Head-on collision on DN15 in Gornești leaves two dead and four injured in Mureș

Collision on the DN15 corridor

A head-on traffic collision took place on Sunday, 13 September 2026, at approximately 15:00 on the DN15 national road in Gornești, Mureș County. According to traffic police from the Mureș County Police Inspectorate, a 71-year-old motorist from Vărgata commune was driving toward Reghin when he lost control of his vehicle. The car crossed into oncoming traffic and struck a vehicle traveling in the opposite direction, which was driven by a 56-year-old man from Reghin. The force of the impact caused extensive frontal destruction to both passenger cars and immediately halted traffic along the regional corridor.

Initial investigations at the scene showed that a 71-year-old man from Vărgata commune, while driving a car towards Reghin, under circumstances to be determined during the investigation, entered oncoming traffic, colliding head-on with a car driven by a 56-year-old man from Reghin.

Emergency mobilization and rescue efforts

First responders from the Mureș Inspectorate for Emergency Situations coordinated a rapid deployment to the crash site. Dispatchers directed units from the Reghin Fire Detachment, alongside specialized support from the Târgu Mureș Fire Detachment. Rescue teams activated a red intervention code upon confirming that two occupants remained trapped inside the crushed frame of the first vehicle. Firefighters deployed hydraulic extrication equipment to reach the victims, while medical personnel prepared intensive care resources on the roadway.

Military firefighters from the Reghin Fire Detachment were called to a road accident in Gornești involving two passenger cars. Two intervention vehicles with extrication modules and two SMURD ambulances, including one mobile intensive care unit, were mobilized to the intervention site.

Additional support deployed to the location included a heavy extrication vehicle, a SMURD emergency motorcycle from Târgu Mureș, and two ambulances from the Mureș County Ambulance Service.

Casualties and hospital transfers

Emergency medical crews evaluated six individuals involved in the collision. The 71-year-old driver and a 69-year-old female passenger seated in the front-right seat sustained injuries incompatible with life and were pronounced dead at the scene. Four other individuals required medical care, including an eight-year-old child who was traveling in the first car and three occupants from the second vehicle. Medical staff assigned yellow intervention status to three of the wounded, while the fourth survivor sustained light injuries.

All four injured survivors received stabilization at the scene before transport to the Emergency Department of the Târgu Mureș County Emergency Clinical Hospital for diagnostic imaging and medical treatment.

Traffic disruption and criminal inquiry

The collision forced a complete blockage of the DN15 roadway connecting Târgu Mureș and Reghin throughout the afternoon. The Romanian Police Infotrafic Center announced that vehicular movement would remain suspended while forensic teams recorded physical evidence and recovery crews cleared debris, projecting reopening after 16:30. Traffic officers from the Mureș County Police Inspectorate initiated a criminal investigation into manslaughter and bodily harm through negligence. Inquiries remain ongoing to determine the specific technical or health factors that led the 71-year-old driver to veer across the dividing line.