PAOK fan who survived is moved: “I remember everything – I mourn my friends”

One of the three survivors of the horrific accident in Romania, which claimed the lives of seven PAOK supporters, speaks for the first time from the hospital in Timișoara.

The young man, who miraculously survived when the black van collided with a truck, causing the vehicle to be scattered in the air, spoke to Live News about his condition and that of the two other injured individuals. He also described the moment of the fatal crash.

“Right now, I am mourning my friends. Today is a day of mourning. We are three survivors, myself and two others who are in the hospital, and seven are dead. I am alone in a room, I don’t speak Romanian, I don’t speak good English. I happened to hear their voices and I know at least that they are alive. It’s very likely that we will all leave tomorrow by plane. I have some fractures, some broken bones,” said the survivor about his condition and that of his two friends.

Regarding the moment of the fatal crash, the young man said: “I remember everything, I didn’t lose consciousness for a moment. There was time to go right and avoid the crash. The van was rented from Edessa. The driver went and picked it up and loaded all of us from Thessaloniki. There were six of us from Imathia. The others were from other areas, and we had arranged to meet at a specific point. We were like brothers, very close friends.”

Morning of Thursday – Air Evacuation of the Three Injured

Meanwhile, on Thursday morning (29/1), the air evacuation of the three injured will take place, as announced by Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis.

A specially equipped aircraft from the Ministry of Health is set to depart from the Elefsina air base on Thursday morning (29/1), heading to Romania to transfer the three injured individuals to Greece, specifically to Papageorgiou Hospital in Thessaloniki.

As Georgiadis mentioned in his statements, one of the injured has not been seriously hurt, the second sustained some fractures, while the third, although severely injured, is not in critical condition.

The Seven Bodies of PAOK Supporters Identified

Meanwhile, the authorities have completed the identification of all the bodies from the tragic accident, as questions remain about the circumstances under which the tragedy occurred, which has deeply saddened the entire nation.

According to reports, the official documents are expected to be issued by the Romanian authorities on Thursday (29/1).

In an interview with SKAI, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Giannis Loverdos stated that the oldest victim is 30 years old.

Shocked Truck Driver – “In 34 years, I’ve never seen anything like this”

Shocking are the testimonies from drivers who saw the black van carrying PAOK supporters being torn apart in the air.

The Polish truck driver, whose truck was struck by the van, told the Romanian newspaper Libertatea that, in his 34 years of driving and millions of kilometers traveled, he had never seen anything like this.

“I was driving normally when it came straight at me. It went straight under my wheels,” said the driver, visibly shaken.

A camera inside a tanker truck, which the van overtook before the crash, shows that the Greek driver completed the overtaking maneuver and turned on the right turn signal to return to his lane. The very next second, he veered left and crossed into the oncoming lane, directly crashing into the truck driven by the Polish man.

Tudor Krețiu, a young man who was two cars behind the van carrying the Greek supporters, described the moment of the accident.

“The van driver kept looking. At one point, he attempted to overtake. From where I was, it was clear that he had no chance (of completing the overtaking) or, at least, that it was extremely dangerous. The truck was coming from the opposite lane. He realized this while overtaking, and realizing he couldn’t complete it, he swerved to the right to return to his lane. At the moment he hit the right truck, he was ejected and into the red,” said Tudor Krețiu, who also called emergency services.

The witness mentioned that after the accident, he saw one of the survivors walking out of the vehicle.