The lawyer for the rental company assured that the minivan in which the supporters of the Greek team were traveling did not have a lane change assistant
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A couple of days ago, Europe was shocked by the tragic traffic accident that caused the death of seven PAOK fans on a road in Romania. While authorities are trying to clarify the causes of the terrible incident, in the last few hours the investigation has incorporated a key piece of information: the minivan involved did not have a lane change assistant. This statement was made by Antonis Xylourgidis, the lawyer for the vehicle rental company, who denied the initial reports that attributed the crash to a technical failure of that system.
In statements to the Greek outlet Protothema, the legal representative explained that the vehicle was a model manufactured in 2017, prior to the requirement for lane assistants in new cars within the European Union. "There was no lane assistant in the vehicle. It was a 2017 model, before it became mandatory in the European Union", Xylourgidis stated.
The clarifications emerged after one of the survivors indicated that the system could have been decisive in the crash. According to what he told Greek doctor Dimitris Koukoulas, the lane change assistant allegedly activated during an overtaking maneuver and allegedly prevented the driver from regaining control of the steering wheel. However, the rental company flatly dismissed that hypothesis by asserting that the vehicle did not have that technology.
Así quedó la minivan tras el fatal accidente
The company also emphasized that the fleet is subjected to exhaustive inspections before each rental. "The company's vehicles are delivered for rental fully tested, both mechanically and electrically", the lawyer stated, who also clarified that the rental protocol doesn't include knowing the final destination or the passengers' plans, but only verifying the driver's documentation and the period of use.
In parallel, Romanian police sources provided new details about the seating arrangement of the occupants at the time of the accident. There were ten people traveling in the minivan, of whom only three survived. According to the official reconstruction, the survivors were seated next to the window on the right-hand side, in the rear part of the vehicle. In one of the middle rows, four people were traveling, exceeding the permitted capacity, while in the front cabin there was thedriver accompanied bytwo more passengers.
El accidente pudo haber ocurrido por la distribución de los pasajeros
Regarding the condition of the injured, two of the three survivors will be transferred to Thessaloniki on a special medical flight of the Greek Air Force. One of them will remain hospitalized in Greece and the other has already been discharged, while the third continues to be hospitalized in Romaniaafter having undergone surgery and is not in any condition to travel. The bodies of the seven deceased will also be repatriated to Greece on a special flight coordinated between the authorities of both countries.
The accident, which caused deep shock in the PAOK community and in Greek soccer, remains under investigation. The authorities are analyzing the mechanics of the crash, the condition of the vehicle and the distribution of the passengers in order to determine responsibility in a tragedy that still leaves multiple questions unanswered.
