A tragic end befell the outing of three minors on Friday (13/2) in Lutsa, when the car they were traveling in veered off course and crashed into a tree. From the violent collision, a 15-year-old lost his life, while the other two passengers were seriously injured. Video from a security camera captured the uncontrolled trajectory of the vehicle moments before the accident, at the intersection of Dimokratias and Sotiros streets. The footage shows the driver losing control, with the car going off course seconds before the fatal impact.
Read: Tragedy in Lutsa with 15-year-old victim: The documentary video from the traffic accident – What eyewitnesses say
The traffic police investigation into the accident is ongoing, with excessive speed being examined as the main scenario. According to initial estimates, the vehicle first hit the curb, mounted the sidewalk and then crashed into the tree.
Lutsa: The minor driver was screaming, according to an eyewitness of the tragedy
A local resident who witnessed what happened described the events after the violent collision of the car into the tree. “The kids were running back and forth from the dirt road towards here. They hit the curb, immediately into the tree, the car overturned, the passenger was thrown out and killed instantly. The other two kids were there. They were sitting down. The driver was screaming ‘What did I do to you my friend? What did I do to you my friend?’ because he could see him,” he reported.
“They pulled the handbrake and lost control,” says classmate of the young friends
Classmates of the three friends spoke to ERT about what happened. “He took it secretly from his mom, went for a ride with some of his friends and I learned that he crashed, a little further up. They pulled the handbrake and lost control,” one of them said. A day after the tragic accident, friends of the 15-year-old who died went to the spot where he lost his life and left flowers. Additionally, on the tree where he died they hung a banner with the phrase “you live,” while they have left candles and various objects, wanting to show they will not forget him.
Two injured are hospitalized out of danger
At the same time, the two minors who were injured remain in the surgical clinic of Aglaia Kyriakou Children’s Hospital. Specifically, they have some scratches on their faces, which do not cause concern and they are hospitalized for preventive reasons in the surgical clinic, as doctors considered that after such a traffic accident they may have hit their head or may feel some discomfort at some point. The 15-year-old driver, who is hospitalized under guard, is charged among other things with manslaughter by negligence, bodily harm by negligence, dangerous driving and deprivation of driving license.
The car is reported to have been taken secretly and that a dangerous handbrake maneuver was possibly attempted, resulting in loss of control, say classmates of the minors involved in the tragic accident in Lutsa
“The child is in shock, he has fear and terror,” say the parents of the 15-year-old driver
The mother of the 15-year-old who was driving the car and saw his friend dead in the passenger seat spoke to Mega. “How can he be fine? The child has suffered shock, he’s hurt, he can’t, he gets dizzy and they won’t let me see him. Only a little and they chase me out, they tell me he’s a detainee. But the child isn’t 50 years old.”
“He’s in shock, he can’t talk, he has fear, he has terror, he’s thinking, why like this, why differently. He didn’t understand anything,” added the father. For her part, the 15-year-old’s sister said: “His leg, his head, his ribs are badly hurt. For now (they said he has escaped danger). Both are in shock. How can the poor kids remember, no, they can barely breathe. The road isn’t exactly strange, it just happened, what can I tell you.”
“What did I do mom? You have every right in the world”
The minor’s mother continued describing her child’s condition. “He’s bruised. Today he’s terrible, dizzy, vomiting, he can’t stand, he can’t, he does things they won’t let me see him either. ‘What did I do to you mom?’ Only that, ‘you have every right in the world.’ Why did I take the keys, his friend who died tells him, take the key for the car, don’t tell the parents anything, and come let’s go for a ride because mine had no idea about driving. They came together to the house, took the keys, took the car.
My own child didn’t take the car. Now he’s in shock. Now whatever I say, mom my friend, mom what did I do? Mom what did we do mom? My friend. Because there were three children who grew up together. This one of mine is in the hospital, the other one who left was with him like my own. It’s the same, the same pain,” she said.
