Mother killed, infant in critical condition after minivan overturns on A14 near Bologna
A 24-year-old woman died at the scene and her six-month-old son was thrown into a three-metre ditch when the family's minivan rolled on the A14 motorway near Bologna on Saturday morning.
The crash
Around 7 a.m. on Saturday, 27 June, a minivan carrying an Egyptian family of six overturned on the A14 between Bologna Borgo Panigale and the junction with the A1 Milano-Napoli. The vehicle rolled over autonomously in the northbound carriageway, which was narrowed by roadworks at kilometre 0+500. No other vehicles were involved.
Victims
The young mother, identified only as a 24-year-old woman, died instantly in the impact. Her six-month-old son was ejected from the passenger compartment and fell into a ditch roughly three metres deep. Rescuers airmarked the baby in codice tre (the highest severity level) and transported him to Bologna's Ospedale Maggiore, where he underwent emergency surgery and remained in the paediatric intensive care unit fighting for his life. The four other occupants – two children aged 10 and 12, a 55-year-old man and a 48-year-old woman – sustained injuries of medium seriousness and were hospitalised under codice giallo or arancione.
Rescue and road closure
Emergency services, including 118 medical teams and Polizia Stradale patrols from the Bologna Sud subsection, arrived quickly at the scene. The carriageway was closed for about an hour to allow extraction of the casualties, investigation of the site and removal of the wreck. It reopened around 8 a.m., but traffic queues stretched up to three kilometres and only eased by 10 a.m., against a backdrop of heavy vacation traffic heading towards the coast.
- Minivan overturns near Bologna Borgo Panigale, ejecting the six-month-old baby and killing the 24-year-old mother.
- Emergency services arrive; the infant is retrieved from a three-metre ditch and taken to Ospedale Maggiore in codice tre.
- Carriageway reopens after roughly one hour of closure.
- Traffic queues dissipate, although residual holiday volumes keep the motorway busy.
Investigation
Preliminary findings by the Polizia Stradale and the infortunistica unit suggest the driver may have suffered a sudden bout of sleepiness or a distraction at the wheel. The public prosecutor was informed and authorised the removal of the body. The identity of the deceased woman was still being verified in the hours after the crash.
