Driver from Ireland injured in truck collision near Salaspils as around 400 litres of fuel spill on Riga bypass
Two trucks collided on the Riga bypass near Salaspils on Monday morning. The likely culprit, a driver from Ireland, was injured, and about 400 litres of fuel spilled onto the road.
Two trucks collided on Monday morning on the Riga bypass near Salaspils, a town on the edge of Latvia's capital. The crash caused a large amount of fuel to leak onto the carriageway, and traffic on that stretch was partly blocked. One driver was injured, and police are still working to establish the exact circumstances.
How the collision happened
According to the TV3 programme "Degpunktā", a truck at the junction with Miera iela failed to stop before joining the main road and cut across the path of a tipper truck carrying a 25-tonne load. Other vehicles were in the opposite lane, so the tipper driver had no way of avoiding the impact.
Consequences
The blow ruptured the tipper's fuel tank, and roughly 400 litres of fuel poured onto the road. The driver believed to be at fault, a truck driver from Ireland, suffered a head injury. The source does not describe his condition or say whether anyone else was hurt.
Police are investigating the precise circumstances of the accident. The question of blame has therefore not been finally settled, and no official conclusions on the cause have yet been made public.
