Van collision with truck kills 18 in Poland

WARSAW, Poland - A van carrying farm workers crashed head-on into a truck in central Poland on Tuesday, killing all 18 people aboard the van, police said.

The vehicle was designed to carry goods, not people, and passengers "were seated on wooden boxes and planks" and not wearing seat belts, national police spokesman Mariusz Sokolowski said.

The collision occurred in dense fog on a slippery road near Nowe Miasto, a town 80 kilometers south of Warsaw, he said.

"There were many more people in the van than there should be," Sokolowski said.

The van was apparently trying to pass a third vehicle when the accident occurred, he said. Fourteen of the victims were men and four were women, he added.

The van apparently was carrying seasonal workers to an orchard in one of Poland's best known apple and plum-growing regions when it swerved into the opposite lane and collided with the truck, police spokeswoman Magdalena Siczek-Zalewska said.

Two passengers initially survived with serious injuries and were taken to a hospital, but they both died there. The truck driver was hospitalized with slight injuries and shock, Siczek-Zalewska said.

Authorities called for three days of mourning in the Mazovia region.

The accident follows another serious crash in Germany last month that killed 13 Poles and injured 38. That crash occurred near Berlin when a German woman hit a Polish tourist bus returning from Spain.

Associated Press

(China Daily 10/13/2010 page12)