Nine dead as driver uses Facebook, slams into truck

Budapest - The driver of the truck escaped with minor injuries.

By AFP

Published: Wed 23 May 2018, 12:15 PM

Last updated: Wed 23 May 2018, 2:26 PM

The driver of a minibus involved in a collision in Hungary that claimed the lives of nine Romanians may have been using Facebook moments before the crash, Romanian media said Wednesday.
Seven men and two women were killed in the head-on collision between the minibus and a truck carrying sand on a national road 59 kilometres (36 miles) east of Budapest Tuesday, said a statement on the Hungarian police website.
A Facebook Live video published in several Romanian media outlets appeared to show the male driver filming himself and reading comments from the social media website moments before the crash.
After the camera was turned towards the road, the minibus can be seen overtaking as the truck approaches, before the footage ends suddenly.
Romania's foreign ministry said Wednesday that all the victims have been identified as Romanian citizens.
The driver of the truck escaped with minor injuries, Hungarian police said.
---

9 Romanians killed when bus slams into truck

Romanian authorities say nine Romanians died when the bus they were traveling in slammed into an oncoming truck in Hungary.
Local media published what they said was live video from the bus, ending as it slams into the truck. The authenticity of the footage could not be confirmed.
The Romanian foreign ministry said the accident occurred Tuesday 60 kilometers (37 miles) southeast of Hungary's capital, Budapest, when the driver veered onto the other side of the road. All seven men and two women in the bus were killed.
Romanian mayor Ladislau Szekely said at least four victims were from the village of Mica and were traveling home after working in Slovenia.
Many residents of the area work abroad seasonally.
The ministry said it would pay for the bodies to be repatriated.