Novi Pazar: Truck Kills Woman, 67, on Save Kovacevica Street

A woman was killed on Saturday, September 12, around 4:25 p.m. on Save Kovacevica Street in Novi Pazar, close to the “Samald” business center. The victim was I. H. of Novi Pazar. Her age is reported differently across outlets: Mondo, Espreo and Informer put her at 67, while Kurir says she was 68.

According to unofficial information from the outlet Sandzak Danas, which other media have also cited, the woman tried to cross the street while a line of vehicles was stopped on the road. She is believed to have stepped into the blind spot of a truck carrying Tutin license plates, meaning the driver most likely never saw her. Espreo reports that the woman, “under circumstances that are still unclear,” ended up beneath the cargo truck, while the exact cause of how she came to be under its wheels has not yet been officially confirmed.

An eyewitness described to Sandzak Danas what happened just before the tragedy.

The unfortunate woman ended up under the cargo truck, after which the vehicle’s rear axle ran over her. She died at the scene from the injuries she sustained.

An ambulance crew responded, but there was nothing more they could do. Doctors could only pronounce her dead.

The truck was being driven by its owner, a 25-year-old man from Tutin with the initials N. C. He was reportedly in a state of severe shock after the crash, and the ambulance crew took him to Novi Pazar General Hospital, where he received medical treatment.

Informer reports that the driver claims he had properly stopped the truck in front of a pedestrian crossing to let pedestrians pass, and that he pulled away only once the crossing was clear. The same outlet says authorities have not ruled out the possibility that the woman was struck by another vehicle before the truck arrived, meaning she may have already been injured by the time she ended up beneath it. The exact sequence of events, Informer writes, is expected to be clarified by surveillance camera footage and a forensic examination.

Sources disagree on whether the driver was placed in custody. Kurir reports that custody was ordered for him, while Mondo, Espreo and Informer make no mention of it.

All the sources agree that the on-site investigation was attended by the competent prosecutor, a court-appointed forensic expert and the head of the traffic police. Witnesses were questioned to help establish the full circumstances of the crash. Traffic on that stretch of the highway through Novi Pazar was suspended during the investigation, according to A1 television, while Espreo and Mondo report that traffic in that part of the city was disrupted for as long as the authorities’ work continued.

There has so far been no official statement from the prosecutor’s office regarding the circumstances of the crash or any possible responsibility on the driver’s part. Until the investigation is complete, under standard criminal-law procedure, guilt cannot be attributed to any party in this case.

Save Kovacevica Street is part of the highway that runs through Novi Pazar, near the “Samald” business center where, according to witnesses, a line of vehicles had come to a stop that afternoon. While the driver’s psychological state immediately after the crash was described as severe, none of the sources report further on his condition following his admission to Novi Pazar General Hospital.

The final version of events, including whether the woman ended up under the truck on her own or after being struck by another vehicle, will depend on footage from surveillance cameras in that part of the city and on the findings of the forensic expert who took part in the on-site investigation. Until then, each of the versions described above remains just one of the possibilities that the authorities are still weighing.