Vukovar prosecutor's office refutes information about ex-minister's condition in car accident

The prosecutor's office in the Croatian city of Vukovar has refuted information circulated by some media outlets that former Defense Minister Mario Banozic was involved in a fatal traffic accident while intoxicated.

This information is reported by the Croatian channel HRT.

According to the prosecutor's office, the results of toxicological analyses taken from Banozic after the accident showed that the 44-year-old former minister was not under the influence of alcohol, drugs, psychotropic substances, or medications affecting driving ability at the time of the accident.

Furthermore, the prosecutor's office is awaiting a report on the investigation from the police of Vukovar-Srijem County, where the accident occurred. The investigation continues at the scene of the incident.

It was previously reported that a serious traffic accident occurred involving Croatian Defense Minister Mario Banozic. As a result of the accident, one person died, and the minister was urgently taken to the hospital with head injuries, as reported by the Ministry of Defense of Croatia.

The accident happened when Banožić was driving his personal vehicle, a Jeep, near Vinkovci, located east of Zagreb at a distance of 276 km. As a result of the collision with a minibus, its driver, a 40-year-old father of two, died.

According to unofficial data published by the publication Index, no alcohol was found in Banozic's blood. It is noted that at the time of the accident, he was alone in the car, on his way to a hunting trip, and was dressed in a hunting suit.

Witnesses, as reported by the portal Danica, stated that the minister tried to overtake a truck on a road with poor visibility due to fog and collided with the oncoming minibus. There is no official confirmation of this information yet.