A serious multi-vehicle collision occurred Monday morning on the A1 motorway between Arezzo and Valdarno, claiming three lives and injuring fifteen others. All three fatalities were occupants of an ambulance involved in the crash alongside a truck, three cars, and a caravan. Among the injured, one is in critical condition, four suffered serious injuries, and ten sustained minor injuries. Authorities are reconstructing the sequence of events; the motorway was closed to facilitate rescue operations and investigations.
The ambulance belonged to the Misericordia of Terranuova Bracciolini (Arezzo). The victims are identified as two volunteers onboard: Gianni Trappolini, 56, and Giulia Santoni, 24, along with the approximately 70-year-old patient they were transporting. Tuscany Governor Eugenio Giani expressed the region’s “deepest condolences to the victims’ families” in a Telegram message, adding a “touched thought and embrace to the Misericordia”.
Rescue efforts involved Pegaso 1 and Pegaso 2 air ambulances, support vehicles from Florence, an emergency doctor’s car from Arezzo, a nursing vehicle, firefighters, and police. A major emergency protocol was activated.
Initial reports suggest all vehicles involved were traveling in the same direction. These included a semi-trailer truck, the ambulance – which was reportedly struck by the truck’s trailer – a car towing a caravan, and a lorry. A tourist bus was also lightly impacted. Authorities clarified the incident was not caused by the truck “jumping” lanes as initially speculated.
The crash caused severe traffic disruptions. The Autostrada del Sole (A1) was blocked in both directions at the incident site for many hours. The southbound lanes towards Rome reopened around 3:30 PM, but the northbound lanes towards Bologna remained closed. Highway operator ASPI reported 5 km of queues within the closed northbound section. Further north, towards Bologna, a mandatory exit at Arezzo caused 3 km of queues between Monte San Savino and Arezzo. Southbound traffic towards Rome was reduced to one lane, resulting in 8 km of queues between Incisa and Valdarno.
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