The Huțani bus accident was the deadliest road accident in Romanian history. On 29 June 1980, an overloaded bus (83 people on 40 seats) overturned in a five-meter deep swamp in the village of Huțani, commune of Vlădeni,

Botoșani County Botoșani County () is a county (județ) of Romania, in Western Moldavia (encompassing a few villages in neighbouring Suceava County from Bukovina to the west as well), with the county seat at Botoșani. Demographics As of 1st of December 20 ...

. The accident killed at least 48 people and another 35 were injured.

Accident

On 29 June 1980, the deadliest

road accident A traffic collision, also known as a motor vehicle collision, or car crash, occurs when a vehicle collides with another vehicle, pedestrian, animal, road debris, or other moving or stationary obstruction, such as a tree, pole or building. Tr ...

ever to have occurred in the country took place. A bus traveling on the route

Suceava Suceava () is a Municipiu, city in northeastern Romania. The seat of Suceava County, it is situated in the Historical regions of Romania, historical regions of Bukovina and Western Moldavia, Moldavia, northeastern Romania. It is the largest urban ...

–

Botoșani Botoșani () is the capital city of Botoșani County, in the northern part of Moldavia, Romania. Today, it is best known as the birthplace of many celebrated Romanians, including Mihai Eminescu, Nicolae Iorga and Grigore Antipa. Origin of the ...

capsized off a bridge into a deep swamp. Explosion of a tire caused the accident, according to the authorities. Of the 83 people on board, only 35 survived. The bodies of 48 victims were first placed on the edge of a nearby pond and then transported to the morgue with a truck. The last bodies were removed from the water the next day, when the bus was recovered. The place where the accident occurred is now known as ''Bridge of the 48 crosses''.

Reaction of authorities

The country heard about the accident from the radio broadcast service "

Radio Free Europe Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a media organization broadcasting news and analyses in 27 languages to 23 countries across Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Caucasus, and the Middle East. Headquartered in Prague since 1995, RFE/RL ...

". A few days later, the Deputy Minister of Transport came to

, accompanied by a delegation of security officers. The only concrete result was the ban on using retreaded tires for buses. No word has been mentioned about compensation. Relatives have just received approval to erect crosses. Within days of the accident, the swamp was filled."Patinoarul de pe «drumul morții» ucide fără oprire"
''Adevărul.ro'', June 19, 2012 Now, the road is called "Road of death" because the large number of accidents that happen every year. To stem the number of tragedies,

traffic police Traffic police (also known as traffic officers, traffic enforcement units, traffic cops, traffic monitors, or traffic enforcers) are units and Law enforcement agency, agencies who enforce Traffic#Rules of the road, traffic laws and Road traffic ...

took a single measure, reducing the speed limit to 70 kilometers per hour.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hutani bus accident 1980 disasters in Romania 1980 in Romania 1980 road incidents 1980s road incidents in Europe Botoșani County Bus incidents in Romania June 1980 in Europe