Aleksinac Bus Driver Arrested After Kolasin Crash
Montenegro's Basic State Prosecutor's Office in Bijelo Polje ordered the arrest of driver M.G. from Aleksinac after a bus carrying students from Podgorica hit a rock embankment near Kolasin.
A Serbian citizen, a bus driver from Aleksinac, was arrested this morning in Montenegro on orders of the Basic State Prosecutor’s Office in Bijelo Polje, after the vehicle carrying students from a Podgorica elementary school hit a rock embankment along the Kolasin-Mojkovac road. The case is directly relevant to Serbia because the suspect is a Serbian citizen holding a temporary residence and work permit in the neighboring country, and the investigation is being led by Montenegrin authorities.
The crash happened during the night between September 19 and 20, around 8:30 p.m., at a location known as Stitaricka Rijeka. The bus was carrying ninth-grade students from Podgorica’s “Pavle Rovinski” Elementary School, who were returning from a school trip. According to a police statement, the vehicle struck a rock formation on the right side of the road.
Sources differ on the exact number and breakdown of the injured. The newspaper Danas reports that the 28 year old tour guide sustained serious injuries, while four students were hurt lightly. The portal Analitika, citing unofficial police information, reports that three female students and two adults were injured. Despite the discrepancy in how the injuries are broken down, both sources agree that five people in total were hurt. According to Danas, the tour guide was taken to the Clinical Center of Montenegro for hospital treatment, while the students with lighter injuries were sent home for further care.
The sources are not fully aligned on the driver’s identity either. Portal Analitika identifies him as M.G., a 53 year old Serbian citizen from Aleksinac, while Danas puts his age at 52. Both outlets agree he holds a temporary residence and work permit in Montenegro. A criminal complaint has been filed against him, and he is charged with a serious offense against the safety of public traffic.
The arrest was confirmed by Vladan Djalovic, head of the Basic State Prosecutor’s Office in Bijelo Polje, in a statement to the media.
“Driver M.G. from Aleksinac has been deprived of liberty by order of the Basic State Prosecutor’s Office, and along with the criminal complaint, he will be brought before the duty prosecutor for questioning,” Djalovic said.
According to Djalovic, the driver will be brought before the duty prosecutor for questioning, marking the start of the regular course of criminal proceedings before Montenegrin courts. Until a final verdict is reached, he is presumed innocent.
Montenegrin media earlier reported that the crash was preceded by a rockslide on the highway, which the driver allegedly tried to avoid. Police have not confirmed that version of events in their official statement, so the cause of the collision with the embankment remains a matter for the on site investigation rather than an established fact for now.
Police also said that during the night, three more people, including one minor, contacted emergency services in Mojkovac because of stress and distress caused by the crash. After a medical examination, it was determined that they had not been physically injured, and they were released to go home.
Following the crash, the remaining students were transported to Podgorica on other buses, while parents came to the scene to pick up some of the children. The school trip, by all accounts so far, turned into an emergency overnight on one of the busiest stretches of road between Kolasin and Mojkovac, running through the Tara canyon.
This is the first report on the incident from our newsroom. The Basic State Prosecutor’s Office in Bijelo Polje has announced that the driver will be brought in for questioning, and the outcome of that questioning, along with the final legal classification of the offense, will become known in the coming days of the proceedings.
