Firefighters rescued 12 people and sent a psychologist to the scene. Credit: HZS Jihomoravského kraje, via Twitter.
Brno, July 18 (CTK) – One person died and another 76 people were injured, 14 of them seriously, in a collision between two buses that closed the D2 motorway near Brno for several hours in both directions yesterday, police and firefighters told journalists .
A trauma plan was activated and 26 medical crews attended the scene.
Three helicopters arrived from South Moravia, Olomouc and Vysocina, transporting the seriously injured to hospitals around the area.
Firefighters rescued 12 people and sent a psychologist to the scene. Their spokesman Jaroslav Mikoska confirmed to CTK that firefighters had to extricate a man who died in the accident. The Police said on Twitter that the man was the driver of one of the buses.
The accident happened between the exits to Chrlice and Blucina, said the spokesman for the South Moravia police, David Chaloupka.
Mikoska said there were dozens of injured and firefighters had to extricate some of them. The accident happened in the direction of Brno and the motorway was closed at the scene from 3:52 pm, Mikoska added.
Hana Albrechtova, director of the South Moravian Medical Rescue Service, told CTK that 76 people were injured in the accident, ranging from moderate to severe injuries.
“14 of them suffered serious injuries, 47 were moderately or slightly injured. Injuries included fractures and open wounds. The intervention at the scene has already ended, all the injured were transported to South Moravian hospitals, it was not necessary to transport anyone out of the region,” Albrechtova said at 5:45 pm.
26 crews with ambulances, three helicopters and an ATEGO vehicle, which is primarily designed for evacuation and mass transport, intervened at the scene. A trauma plan was activated, which means the immediate start of the activities needed to provide emergency care when a large number of patients are admitted.
“The trauma plan has been activated in hospitals in Brno, Breclav, Vyskov and Ivancice, and the teaching hospitals in Olomouc and Hradec Kralove have also been informed,” Albrechtova said.
15 units of firefighters arrived at the scene and rescued 12 people from the crashed cars. About 70 people were travelling on both buses. Those who escaped without injuries were taken to Brno by firefighters.
At 5:48 pm, the motorway in the direction of Breclav was reopened. The direction to Brno, where the accident occurred, remains closed for now.
