18-year-old driver with learner's permit dies after crashing into tree in Cutro, Italy
Salvatore Lukanov, 18, was driving a Volkswagen Golf with only a learner's permit when the car left the road, struck a tree, and overturned in the early hours of 28 June. Two young passengers were seriously injured.
The crash
Around 2:40 to 3:00 on the night of 27–28 June, a Volkswagen Golf carrying three young people veered off Corso Nazionale in the centre of Cutro, in the province of Crotone, Calabria. The car hit a tree on the pavement, uprooting and snapping it, then rolled over and came to rest in the middle of the road as a mangled wreck. The driver, Salvatore Lukanov, died at the scene. The two passengers, a 17-year-old boy from Cutro and a young woman from Petilia Policastro, were taken to hospital with multiple fractures. One source described the female passenger as 16 years old, while others reported her age as 20.
Driver and passengers
Lukanov had turned 18 a month earlier. He was born in Crotone to a mother from Cutro and a Bulgarian father. Police checks showed he had not yet obtained a full driving licence and was driving with only a learner's permit (foglio rosa). The Golf belonged to his mother's partner. Investigators are examining the possibility that Lukanov took the keys while the owner was asleep. The two passengers were a 17-year-old boy from Cutro and a young woman from Petilia Policastro. Both arrived at the San Giovanni di Dio hospital in Crotone in a state of shock with fractures to several parts of the body. The female passenger was admitted to intensive care; the 17-year-old remains under close medical observation.
Emergency response and investigation
Carabinieri from the local station and the provincial command attended the scene to carry out surveys and secure the area. Firefighters from the Crotone provincial command used shears and spreaders to extract Lukanov's body from the crushed vehicle. The recovery operation ended in the early hours of the morning. Paramedics from the 118 emergency service could only confirm the driver's death before transporting the injured passengers to hospital. Early reconstructions point to high speed as a likely factor in the loss of control, though the exact cause remains under investigation.
