A 12-year-old Roma girl was killed in a traffic accident in the very early morning hours of Thursday in Renti, a suburb of western Athens.
The child alone and was trying to cross the Athinon avenue when it was hit by a car at 1:30 a.m. The girl suffered very serious injuries and died in a nearby hospital shortly after an ambulance transferred her there.
The driver of the car, a 21-year-old man, was driving over the speed limit, at some point lost control of the vehicle, crushed on to a sidewalk and the car hit the girl reportedly throwing her onto the concrete pillar of the bridge that is there.
According to other sources the girl was sitting and not trying to cross the road.
Motorists driving by the area, halted their vehicles rushed to help the victim as the video below shows and immediately called the ambulance service and the police.
Video:
The driver was arrested at the scene and faces charges for manslaughter.
First alcohol test at the scene of the accident turned negative, further blood test are to determine whether the most likely inexperienced driver was under the influence of alcohol, drugs or medication at the time of the incident.
He was in shock and claimed to police under tears that he was returning home, he was not driving at high speed, that the girl jumped in the middle of the road and he tried to brake, but the car found itself on the left curb of the road, resulting in it derailing and drifting, seriously injuring the little girl.
Traffic Police continues the investigation and ordered an autopsy on the victim’s body.
A girl alone on the streets in the middle of the night
The case raises serious questions about the living circumstances of the victim, as her parents have not appeared at the scene.
What she was doing alone on the streets in the middle of the night?
A makeshift tent under the highway bridge were the gild allegedly lived alone. Picture via newsit.gr
According to initial information, the girl was living in a Roma settlement nearby.
Relatives of the girl reported later to Traffic Police that the father was serving a prison sentence and that they were not aware about the whereabouts of the mother in the last couple of months. Accordant to the claims, the girl was practically living alone and in miserable conditions.
One scenario is that both parents remain away trying to avoid their immediate arrest for neglecting the supervision of a minor setting a minor’s life into danger.
The little girl does not seem to have been attending school and she used to wander around the area of the accident all day alone, without the care of her parents.
According to unconfirmed reports, the girl was asking money from passing drivers or she cleaned car windows for small amounts of money.
Some media reported that no one is actually able to know exactly how the 12-year-old Roma girl lived, with whom and what she did. Police suggests that “it is unthinkable for a little girl to be alone on the streets at 01:30 at night and fall victim to a traffic accident.”
Paraskevi: that was the name of the girl that could only live a very short thus tough life.
PS and there, I can’t help but thinking of the other Roma girl, Olga, 7 years old, who was crashed by a factory door and left there to die without any help, for several hours.
