With a brief message on his personal social media account, the drift racing driver thanked his supporters who sent him messages of sympathy for the car crash he caused early Friday morning in Afidnes, while driving under the influence of alcohol on the service road of the Athens-Lamia National Highway. “Thank you all for your concern, I’m fine. I’m truly sorry for the lives that were lost,” wrote the drunk professional driver who, while overtaking, collided head-on with an oncoming vehicle carrying five foreign men.
Two died instantly at the scene, while the other three were seriously injured, with one fighting for his life. The drift driver himself was injured but is out of danger. The massive black SUV he was driving sustained minor damage compared to the total destruction of the front section of the blue Nissan carrying the five foreign workers. Police called to respond to a two-vehicle collision on the service road of the Athens-Lamia National Highway near the Afidnes toll station were unaware of the scale of destruction. Debris had been scattered dozens of meters away. The fire department was immediately notified and for considerable time struggled with the twisted metal to first extract the survivors – the three foreign men – and then free the two deceased. One of the injured is hospitalized in critical condition and attending physicians are not optimistic about his health status. The other two injured have serious wounds but appear to have escaped mortal danger.
The crash was primarily caused by the fact that the drift racing driver got behind the wheel while intoxicated. From there, he attempted to overtake and crashed into the oncoming vehicle. Due to light rainfall, the braking systems of both vehicles failed to respond effectively and disaster quickly struck. The collision was violent. The question is how a professional driver could get behind the wheel while drunk, wonder police officers who imposed administrative fines on the violating driver, while criminal charges were filed against him for felony offenses.
