Driver in Albanian bus accident remanded in custody

The Greek intercity bus driver whose vehicle veered off the road and fell down a 120-metre cliff was remanded in custody by an Albanian court on Friday. Nine people were killed and 41 injured during the Monday night accident, which involved an Ioannina KTEL bus on a trip from Tirana to Athens.

The court judged that the driver was responsible for the accident and rejected his defence lawyer’s request that he be released on bail of 10,000 euro. The driver’s lawyer claimed that the bus had veered off the road after impact with another vehicle but the court was not convinced.

The accident occurred near the Albanian town of Tepelene during a heavy rainstorm on Monday night, at a very narrow section of the Tirana-Kakavia road between Tepelene and Ballsh. The bus had set off from Tirana at 7:00 p.m. about two and a half hours earlier. According to the driver, a truck had been blocking the road at that point and he had braked suddenly to avoid it but the rain had made the road surface slippery and caused the bus to swerve and fall off the road.