Gadzin Han: Pine Tree Stops Mercedes Before House

In brief:

• The crash happened shortly after 4 p.m. in Lazarevo Selo, in the Gadzin Han municipality
• A 41-year-old Mercedes driver lost control and hit a pine tree
• The car flipped onto its side, and the driver was taken to the Clinical Center in Nis
• The tree kept the car from crashing into the Kostic family’s yard
• Preliminary information points to unsuitable speed as the cause

A traffic accident occurred shortly after 4 p.m. in Lazarevo Selo, in the Gadzin Han municipality, on the road connecting Gadzin Han and Nis. The Mercedes driver, 41 years old, was heading from Gadzin Han toward Nis when he lost control of the car. Gadzin Han is a municipality southeast of Nis, and Lazarevo Selo is one of its villages.

According to initial reports from the scene, the driver cut a curve too tight and ran off the road, then slammed the car into a pine tree beside it. Only one vehicle was involved. The impact was so violent that the Mercedes flipped onto its side, leaving the car almost totaled. Pieces of the body were scattered several meters from the crash site.

Tree Stopped the Car Just Short of the Yard

The pine tree the car struck stands right in front of the Kostic family’s house. Had the tree not stopped the vehicle there, it would have continued straight into their yard. Based on all available information from the scene, only the driver was injured in the crash, and there is no indication anyone else was hurt.

Dragan Kostic, the owner of the house in front of whose yard the car came to rest, described the moment of the crash to the Nova portal:

“If he hadn’t hit the pine tree, he would have come straight into our yard, he was mowing down everything in front of him. If anyone had been standing in the road, they wouldn’t have survived. First he knocked down our fence, and then he slammed into the tree. I heard a loud crash, but it wasn’t until I got out to the street that I saw the terrible scene. The car hit the tree so hard that it flipped onto its side. The driver was conscious but wasn’t saying anything, we called an ambulance right away, and firefighters came and pulled him out of the car.”

Kostic said the car knocked down the fence in front of his house before slamming into the tree.

Driver Taken to Nis, Traffic Suspended

Ambulance crews, firefighters and police responded to the scene. Firefighters and medical staff pulled the driver out of the wrecked car. According to reports from the scene, the driver remained conscious throughout the intervention but did not speak.

The injured man was taken to the University Clinical Center in Nis. His condition is not yet known. Authorities have not said whether the driver was alone in the car or whether he was tested for alcohol. That information is expected from the relevant services in the coming days.

While emergency crews worked at the scene, traffic on this stretch of the Gadzin Han to Nis road was suspended. It reopened once police completed their on-site investigation.

The prosecutor’s office has been notified of the accident. Preliminary information points to unsuitable speed as the cause. No official statement on the results of the investigation has been released so far.