A 54-year-old man was killed and three other people were injured after a tractor towing a trailer loaded with firewood overturned on a forest road in Ștefan cel Mare commune, near Onești, eastern Romania, local authorities said.
The accident occurred on Thursday, October 15, as the four people were returning from the forest after collecting firewood. The tractor and its loaded trailer overturned on a sloping section of the road, trapping the driver underneath the vehicle.
Emergency crews from the Onești Fire Department, a SMURD medical team and police officers were dispatched to the scene. The 54-year-old man suffered fatal injuries and could not be resuscitated.
His 56-year-old wife was seriously injured and was transported by a SMURD medical helicopter to a hospital in Iași. Her condition was later reported to have stabilised.
A second woman, aged 61, suffered a fractured arm and several broken ribs, while a 63-year-old man sustained minor injuries.
According to Cătălina Crețu, spokesperson for the Bacău County Police Inspectorate, the tractor was travelling on a forest road with a trailer loaded with timber when it overturned, trapping the driver beneath the vehicle.
Police have opened a criminal investigation into the incident on charges of negligent bodily injury and negligent homicide. Investigators are working to establish the exact circumstances that led to the tractor and trailer overturning.
The incident turned what had been a routine trip to collect firewood into a tragedy that claimed one life and left three people injured.
