Driver of Warsaw's fatal bus crash charged over drugs

2020-06-26 21:42 update: 2020-06-28, 14:25
Miroslawa Chyr. Photo PAP/Paweł Supernak
Miroslawa Chyr. Photo PAP/Paweł Supernak
The driver of a city bus that plunged off an overpass in Warsaw, killing one person and injuring over a dozen, has been charged with driving under the influence of drugs, prosecutors said on Friday.

On Thursday, a municipal bus veered off the Grota-Roweckiego bridge in northern Warsaw and plunged down to a multi-lane north-south transit route along the Vistula River. The articulated bus was torn in two, with the back section left hanging from the bridge.

One person died in the crash and over 20 people were injured, four of them seriously.

The driver of the bus was under the influence of drugs, Miroslawa Chyr, spokesperson for the District Prosecutor's Office in Warsaw, said. The results of toxicological tests received by the District Prosecutor's Office in Warsaw confirmed the presence of amphetamine in his blood, she added. About half a gram of amphetamine was found with the man, she also said.

Tomasz U. (surname withheld under Polish law) faces up to 15 years in prison. (PAP)

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