Crashes Near Batajnica and Sopot Kill Two Drivers
Two crashes five hours apart killed a driver, 45, on the highway near Batajnica and a driver, 22, in Nemenikuce near Sopot, where his brother, a passenger, was severely injured.
Two traffic accidents on roads around Belgrade, overnight between August 1 and 2, took the lives of two drivers. Just over five hours passed between the first fatality and the second. In the second crash, in Nemenikuce near Sopot, the brother of the driver who died was severely injured.
Neither crash was a collision with another vehicle. In both cases, the car left the road on its own.
Vehicle Leaves Belgrade-Novi Sad Highway Between Banovci and Batajnica
The first crash was reported at 22:05. A 45-year-old man went off the road on the Belgrade-Novi Sad highway, on the stretch between Banovci and Batajnica.
An on-duty Emergency Medical Services crew responded to the scene. Doctors confirmed the driver was showing no signs of life. Whether another vehicle was involved has not been disclosed, and police are still establishing the circumstances of the crash.
Car Hits Concrete Fence of a House in Nemenikuce
The second crash happened around 03:30, on Kosmajska Street in Nemenikuce, in the municipality of Sopot. A Fiat Punto, for reasons still undetermined, went off the road and struck the concrete fence of a family house.
The driver, M.Z., 22, died at the scene. His brother, M.Z., 20, was in the passenger seat. He was taken to the Emergency Center with severe injuries, where doctors are fighting for his life.
Early reports circulated during the day gave different ages for the two brothers. Later reports corrected the driver’s age to 22 and the passenger’s age to 20.
What Comes Next in the Investigation?
Police carried out an on-site investigation in Nemenikuce. On the order of the competent prosecutor’s office, the body of the driver who died was sent for an autopsy, which is expected to determine the exact cause of death. The circumstances under which the car left the road will be established through further investigation.
In cases of this kind, prosecutors routinely order a traffic expert analysis as well. It is based on braking marks, the position of the vehicle and the damage to it, so the cause cannot be named before the expert’s findings are in. Until then, what remains officially confirmed is the time, the place, the type of vehicle, and the consequences.
Two More Serious Injuries the Same Night
Belgrade’s emergency medical service handled two more calls that night involving serious injuries:
- at 20:13, a 50-year-old man fell inside a bus near Altina
- at 00:40, a 30-year-old female cyclist fell on Brankov Bridge
- both interventions involved severe bodily injuries, with no fatalities
All four interventions that night took place across the wider Belgrade area, from the highway in the north to Kosmaj in the south.
Two Run-Off-Road Crashes, No Other Vehicle Involved
Our newsroom previously reported on a collision on the Ibar Highway near Stepojevac, in which a 37-year-old driver was killed. Two vehicles were involved there. That night, a different pattern repeated itself: a car leaving the road on its own, in the late night and early morning hours, on roads that lead into and out of Belgrade.
That pattern also changes the nature of the investigation. When there is no other party involved, there are no conflicting accounts, so the burden of establishing what happened falls on the technical findings and the autopsy.
The condition of the surviving passenger from Nemenikuce will also determine whether the death toll from these two crashes stays at two. He remains in the Emergency Center.
