8 dead, 9 injured in crash

WARSAW (AP):

A van carrying security workers and a truck collided head-on in Poland yesterday, killing eight people and injuring nine.

Police spokesman Marek Konkolewski described the accident as one of the country's most deadly in recent times. It occurred early morning in Chrzczonowice, in central Poland, where a four-lane highway has been narrowed to just two lanes, due to repairs.

The victims were the van driver and members of a security company between 50 and 60 years old. They were travelling from the town of Rawa Mazowiecka to work in the capital, Warsaw. Three women and five men were killed on the spot, nine people have been hospitalised, three of them in a serious condition.

Police and prosecutors are investigating the cause of the crash. Preliminary findings suggest that the accident probably happened after the truck swerved into the opposite lane when one of its tyres exploded.

In another accident in southwestern Poland, a family of five, including children aged four and six, were killed late Tuesday when their car collided with another passenger car that skidded while overtaking a truck.