On Thursday in the Leningrad region at the 59th kilometer A fatal accident occurred on the Scandinavia highway. According to the press service of the Russian Main Internal Affairs Directorate, a Scania tractor rammed a group of cyclists and an escort car. For an unknown reason, the truck hit a Ford passenger car moving in the same direction, which was accompanying schoolgirl cyclists. After the collision, the foreign car was thrown onto the athletes.
Two girls died as a result of the accident. Another 10 people were injured and taken to hospital. From the message of the St. Petersburg Health Committee it follows that two girls are in serious condition, seven cyclists are in moderate condition.
St. Petersburg Governor Alexander Beglov said that those who were hit by the truck were students of an Olympic reserve sports school them. Vladimir Korenkov. There were no children in the group older than 2008.
“Now all the (injured) children have been taken to medical institutions. One of the girls has already been operated on and is in intensive care,” Beglov wrote on the Telegram channel.
The leaders of the sports school also promptly went to the scene of the accident. One of the institution’s employees spoke about this.
The circumstances of the fatal accident are currently being established. The police have already questioned the driver of the Scania tractor who ran into the escort vehicle. He was a 31-year-old citizen of one of the neighboring countries. The man was detained. Investigators of the GUMVD of Russia for St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region have opened a criminal case under Article 264 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (violation of traffic rules resulting in the death of people).
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"During the investigation of the criminal case, an assessment will be made of the actions of persons in children's sports schools and organizations that carry out freight transportation using a vehicle involved in an accident,” is specified in the release of the Investigative Committee.
Later it became known that the coach of the young athletes did not have permission to conduct the lesson. This was announced by the head of the Russian Cycling Federation (FVSR) Vyacheslav Ekimov:
«»It's a real tragedy. The coach, without any approval or permission from the school management, went to train with girls aged 14-15 years old on a high-speed track. I would like to speak emotionally to him and to other specialists. People, think with your head about who you take for responsibility. Even if the group, as expected, was covered by a car with all the identification marks, cars rush past at a speed four times higher. And this is what happened in the end.»
The speaker also added that there were no members in the training group Russian national team:
“For our part, we will send condolences to the victims, but in general the situation is being resolved at the regional level. There were no “collections” among the athletes. If there is an appeal, then, of course, we will take a direct part. First, law enforcement agencies must sort it out. As for the sanctions against the coach, then our measure of influence may be non-issuance of a license for the next year.»
At the same time, Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Physical Culture and Sports of St. Petersburg Elena Pavlova told reporters that the tragic training took place in compliance with traffic rules:
» «For St. Petersburg, for sports and, first of all, for parents, this is a very big tragedy and a very great misfortune. We express our deepest condolences and wish a quick recovery to all those injured. There was a training process. Now it’s too early to give any comments, it will be carried out investigation into everything that happened. At first glance, the training process was carried out in compliance with road safety rules. Further comments will be made after the investigation.»
The Sport editorial office expresses condolences to the families and friends of the deceased girls.