Trucks collided with bus, three killed

Trucks collided with bus, three killed

A regularly scheduled bus traveling from Oslo’s main airport
at Gardermoen to mountain communities in Sogn og Fjordane was struck
head-on by a truck during the night, and then from the rear by another
truck west of Hønefoss. Three persons on board the bus were killed,
including its driver.


Two passengers on board the bus were also killed and three others
injured. Norwegian Broadcsting (NRK) reported Tuesday morning that two
of the injured passengers were pinned inside the wreckage, and were
flown to Ullevål University Hospital in Oslo after finally being freed.


The collision occurred on the two-lane State Highway 7 near Veme in
Sokna, Buskerud County just before midnight. NRK reported that a
preliminary investigation into the cause of the crash indicates that the
first truck swerved into the oncoming lane and hit the bus, which then
was also hit by another truck driving behind it.


Both trucks were Norwegian-registered with drivers from Iceland. The
driver of the first truck has been charged in the accident and police
seized his driver’s license as part of their routine. Ole Kristian
Bekkedal, operations leader for the local police, said there were no
indications that any of the drivers were under the influence of drugs or
alcohol and neither of the truck drivers was seriously injured.


“The roads were very slick in the area, but whether that caused the
crash, it’s too early to say,” Bekkedal told NRK. A team from the
national accident investigation board Havarikomisjon arrived on the scene during the night to begin its probe.


The Timeekspressen bus took the brunt of the damage. There
were nine persons on board, with three passengers escaping serious
injury. They were being cared for at a crisis center set up at the
Comfort Hotel Ringerike in nearby Hønefoss.