Raffore Islands' Agriculture Highway Vehicle Pile-Up

by Aranho Mon Jun 01, 2009 12:32 am

During the evening of May 31st 2009, a day before Raffore Islands' Independence Day and the first day of the National Pride Month, a 2 km vehicle pile-up occur along Agriculture Highway at around 5.15 pm during the evening rush-hour in the Agricultural Zone of Neo Tiew, an area in northwest Raffore Islands where most of the agricultural activities are.

It is unclear how did to vehicle pile-up occurs, but what is know is that more than 230 vehicles are involved in the pile-up. So far, 5 were found dead at the scene, with another 124 hospitalized, in which 27 of them are in unstable conditions. Dozens are still trapped inside of the vehicles.

From what the police have summed up so far, most of the vehicles are family cars, with a couple of articulated trucks and public buses. No dangerous vehicles (gas tankers, articulated trucks carrying flamable loads, etc.) are present at the scene. No fire has been recorded so far.

The speed limit along this section of the Agriculture Highway is 115km/h. The weather condition at this area at the time of the pile-up is said to be partly cloudy. Road conditions is fine with no signs of wetness on the road. A few leaf litters could be found on the highway, but it is not yet confirmed whether this is the cause of the pile-up.

Currently, traffics on both side of the 8km stretch of the Agriculture Highway after the Industrial Highway to the northern end of the Agriculture Highway has remained closed to all traffics except emergency vehicles.

by Aranho Mon Jun 01, 2009 7:00 am

11 hours have passed since the vehicle pile-up. The currently death toll is 22, including 3 children under the age of 12. 182 survivors has been hospitalized, inwhich 41 of them are in serious conditions.

According to survivors, there has been report that one of the articulated truck's tyre has burst, in which the driver loses controls and smashed onto the driver's cab of another articulated truck on his right. As the traffic was quite heavy and almost everyone were travelling at a speed of 85km/h or more, none of the vehicles 2km after the crash couldn't stop in time, which resulted in a vehicle pile-up.

There are still survivors trapped deep into the heart of the vehicle pile-up, including 7 primary school students and a school bus driver trapped inside of the school bus plus a pregnant woman pinned by the collapsed rooftop of the SUV she was sitting inside of it.

The 8km section of the Agriculture Highway still remains close as the pile-up wreckage hasn't been cleared. Due to the sudden closure of the section of the highway, the evening rush-hour cleared at 9.46pm, more than 1 hours after the evening rush-hour is expected to end. The total damage is said to be ri$ 24 million.