TRIESTE – A heavy goods vehicle was involved in the crash that claimed two lives yesterday morning at around 3:40 a.m. on the Brenner motorway, at kilometre 188 southbound.
The victims, a man and a woman, were travelling in a van with Slovak plates, which caught fire after violently rear-ending an HGV stopped in a lay-by on the A22 stretch within the municipality of Brentino Belluno (Verona). To put out the flames—which had meanwhile spread to the articulated lorry, loaded with rolls of paper and cardboard—several fire brigade teams from the Avio, Bardolino, Rovereto and Trento stations were deployed.
The articulated lorry driver was uninjured. After getting out of the vehicle on his own, he reportedly tried in vain to rescue the two people who remained inside the van after the violent impact. To allow rescue operations and secure the vehicles involved, the motorway was closed to traffic for nearly two hours before traffic was gradually restored.
