Actress Gayatri Joshi, who featured in Shah Rukh Khan starrer Swades directed by Ashutosh Gowariker, was recently involved in a car accident along with husband Vikas Oberoi in Italy. As per reports, it was a multiple-car collision in Sardinia and a Swiss couple travelling in a Ferrari died when the high-end vehicle caught fire. On the other hand, Gayatri and Vikas escaped safely from the accident. Talking about the health condition, the actress told FPJ, “Vikas and I are in Italy. We met with an accident here.. With gods grace, we both are absolutely fine.” The couple who lost their lives have been identified as Markus Krautli (67) and his wife Melissa Krautli (63), as per reports. Well, this is not first time, we have witnessed about road accident in Italy . The rates of these mishaps are quite high in this European country. Yesterday, a tourist coach crashed off an overpass near Venice in northern Italy, which took the lives of 21 people while 15 were injured. The officials said that the coach fell 30 metres (98 feet) on to electricity lines and caught fire at about 7.45 pm local time. “The bus is totally crushed. The firefighters had difficulty getting a lot of the bodies out,” Venice prefect Michele Di Bari told Sky Italia television. Revealing that the blus flew 30 metres, Italy’s interior minister, Matteo Piantedosi told TG1, “It seems that the aggravating factor of the scenario was determined by the fact that it [the bus] was powered by methane, therefore the fire developed quickly.” While the cause of the incident is still unclear, Venice’s mayor, Luigi Brugnaro, posted on X, formerly Twitter posted, “It’s an apocalyptic scene. I am speechless.”
Un’immane tragedia ha colpito questa sera la nostra comunità.
— Luigi Brugnaro (@LuigiBrugnaro) October 3, 2023
Ho disposto da subito il lutto cittadino, in memoria delle numerose vittime che erano nell’autobus caduto.
Una scena apocalittica, non ci sono parole. pic.twitter.com/APnsQoPMkL
Why accidents rates are high in Italy? Thousands of road accidents occur every year in Italy. In the last year, 3,159 people died in road accidents in Italy (+9.9% compared to the previous year) while 223,475 were injured (+9.2%). One of the biggest reasons of accidents in this European country is the violation of traffic rules. While driving too fast is still the most fined behaviour in Italy followed by parking regulations and non-compliance with road markings and traffic lights, there is no sign in decreasing numbers of accidents. In fact, it is witnessing a hike every year in the country.
ISTAT reported an overall increase in road accidents in Italy last year, as traffic recovered from a COVID-related slump.
Year-on-year, road deaths and injuries rose by about 9-10% to 3.159 and 223,475 respectively, it said.
With inputs from agencies