NEED TO KNOW
- A 16-year-old boy is dead and his twin brother is injured after their van flipped while traveling back from an international sports competition in Serbia on Oct. 29
- Seven others, including their coach, were injured
- An investigation into the crash is ongoing
A 16-year-old athlete is dead after a van flipped over on a motorway in Serbia as a judo group was returning from an international competition, officials said.
Now, a grieving father is sharing that one of his sons died and the teen’s twin brother was also hospitalized along with seven others.
On Wednesday, Oct. 29, around 3:47 a.m. local time, a passenger van driven by an individual identified by police as “S.S.” in their 40s overturned for unknown reasons on first class A state road while traveling from Novi Sad towards Belgrade, Serbia, the Ministry of Internal Affairs said in a news release.
The eight minor passengers on board, ranging in ages from 13 to 16, are members of a judo club (a Japanese martial art) from Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, and were traveling back from a global sports camp and competition held in Azerbaijan.
One of the coaches was driving when the van left the road, broke through a fence and landed into a canal, Serbian outlets Večernje novosti and Danas reported.
“One of the coaches was driving that van and probably lost control and landed off the road and overturned,” said Nebojša Mandić, a coach of the judo club, Partizan, according to Danas.
Following the accident, a 16-year-old passenger died at the scene, officials said. Eight others, including the driver, were transported to a hospital in Novi Sad, the second largest city in Serbia, with injuries of varying degrees.
Slaviša Pavlović, the father of the teen who died, was at the scene and told Večernje novosti that his son’s twin was injured in the crash.
After the competition, the children flew from Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, to Budapest. From there, they were traveling by van back to Belgrade, the outlet reported.
When the seven surviving children, ages 13 to 15, arrived at the children’s hospital, two were taken to the ICU, Dr. Andrea Đuretić from the Institute for Child and Youth Health Care of Vojvodina told Večernje novosti. One child had a cervical spine injury and was transported to Belgrade and another was treated for injuries and is in good condition. The remaining five teens are under observation and are also in good condition, the outlet reported.
An aerial view of Novi Sad, Serbia.
Getty
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Following the deadly crash, authorities used a breathalyzer and determined the driver was not under the influence of alcohol, officials said. An investigation is ongoing.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs and the judo club did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s requests for further comment.
