Accident in Bratislava: drunk drives into the bus stop – five dead

In the Slovakian capital, a drunk steers his car into a bus stop. At least five people die. The driver should be a senior sports official. Politicians are shocked and announce tough measures.

A car drove into a bus stop in the center of the Slovakian capital Bratislava – at least five people died. A patient is still in mortal danger, the police said. In the case of four other injured, the doctors classified the state of health as no longer critical. In the accident at night, students died who wanted to take the bus to their boarding schools. According to the police, the driver was drunk.

According to the police, there were numerous people at the bus stop on the edge of the historic old town waiting for buses to go to Petrzalka, the most populous district south of the Danube. Photos from the scene of the accident showed how rescue workers were taking care of the injured. The bus stop was cordoned off over a wide area.

Slovakian police chief Stefan Hamran and interior minister Roman Mikulec confirmed media reports that the driver was under the influence of alcohol. A test showed 1.69 per thousand alcohol in the blood. After the accident, he also behaved aggressively towards police officers and rescue workers. He was arrested.

According to reports, the man is a senior sports official. His association did not confirm this directly, but regretted the event in a statement published by the TASR news agency.

President Zuzana Caputova combined her condolences with a call to avoid alcohol while driving, so as not to cause unhappiness and grief. Other politicians also addressed the fact that the driver was under the influence of alcohol in their statements of condolence. As a consequence of the incident, Finance Minister Igor Matovic announced a legislative initiative to drastically increase penalties for drunk driving. Drivers who are caught with more than one per thousand alcohol should have to hand over their car to the state. The conservative-populist Matovic is the head of the largest governing party, Olano, which is why his demands carry weight.