Three people killed in two road accidents in less than 12 hours
Three people, including a 15-year-old girl, died in less than 12 hours in two traffic accidents in different parts of the country.
The first deadly incident took place late on Monday night on the Methoni-Pylos road in the southwestern Peloponnese and involved a car, which was being driven by a 31-year-old man, crashing into the metal protection railing and a tree.
The driver is in hospital with serious injuries. His passengers, a 15-year-old girl and a 23-year-old man, were both killed, with the former succumbing to her injuries in a hospital in the city of Kalamata a few hours after the crash and the latter dying instantly at the scene. According to reports, the crash was so violent, that the young man’s body was ejected from the vehicle and found in an irrigation ditch several meters away.
On Tuesday morning, meanwhile, a 52-year-old woman was killed when she crashed into another car while driving on the Thessaloniki-Veria road in northern Greece.
The driver of the second vehicle, identified as a man aged 55, survived the crash with minor injuries.
According to Statista, the number of road fatalities in Greece fell by almost a third from 2009 to 2020, but there is an increase in fatal accidents from 2020 onwards.
On Tuesday, state broadcaster ERT reported a 12% surge in accidents following the easing of pandemic restrictions, while in November, the Hellenic Statistical Authority had reported an 11% spike in accidents and a 3.7% rise in fatalities in the first eight months of 2023 compared with 2022.
