A serious traffic accident occurred in Húnavatnssýsla county in northwest Iceland yesterday evening when the trailer of a truck hit another truck driving in the opposite direction.
A Coast Guard helicopter. Photo by Páll Stefánsson.
The driver of the latter vehicle suffered severe injuries and was taken by a Coast Guard helicopter from Blönduós to hospital in Reykjavík, Morgunbladid reports.
The accident occurred in a slope on the Ring Road west of the Bólstadarhlídarbrekka hillside. It is unclear what caused the accident; either the trailer came loose or the other vehicle ran into it. The trailer carried concrete pipes which scattered over a 300-400 meter stretch of the road.
The road was closed temporarily and traffic directed through the Thverárfjallsvegur mountain pass in the meantime. The police in Blönduós did not expect that the road could be opened until late in the night.
There is a crash barrier on the road where the accident occurred, which one of the trucks hit. According to eyewitnesses, one of wires of the barrier broke at the impact but the other wire prevented the truck from sliding off the road.
