June 2020 Laagna Road crash claims third victim
The fatal crash of multiple vehicles caused through the actions of two road-racing young men on Laagna Road in Tallinn last June, in which two people were killed, has claimed a third casualty, the prosecutor's office has confirmed to Postimees.
The two drivers, Isa Khalilov and Vjatseslav Kalasnikov, were recently convicted by a court.
The Tallinn-based Harju County Court on May 24 handed 20-year-old Khalilov a 10-year prison sentence and his fellow accused, 29-year-old Vjatseslav Kalasnikov, a three-year prison sentence. The court found Khalilov guilty of a traffic violation that killed two or more people. Kalasnikov was sentenced according to the section of the Penal Code dealing with causing of death through negligence.
The court's reasoned decision is due at the end of June, after which decisions about potential appeals can be made.
According to the information collected in the course of the investigation, on the afternoon of June 20 of this year, the accused jointly started a drive from the city center towards the district of Lasnamäe. The vehicles, a Chevrolet Camaro driven by Kalasnikov and a BMW X5 driven by Khalilov, engaged in accelerating and speeding during their drive along Parnu Road to Narva Road, finally arriving at Laagna Road.
On Laagna Road, the two started to consistently increase speeds, reaching speeds of 190-200 kilometers per hour. Near the address of 13 Mustakivi Street, the Chevrolet driven by Kalasnikov overtook a Volvo driven by a 54-year-old man. The BMW, driving after the Chevrolet, hit the Volvo from the back, as a result of which the Volvo was thrown to the left onto a lawn and the BMW was thrown to the right, hitting a Ford driven by a 39-year-old man from behind.
The Ford, in turn, was thrown against a Toyota car in front of it, driven by a 28-year-old man.
As a result of the impact, the BMW and the Ford hit a bus shelter on the right side of the road at which two pedestrians, women aged 61 and 32, were waiting for a bus. The 61-year-old woman and the 39-year-old male driver were killed as a result, while four more people sustained injuries, who we hospitalized from the scene.
In the trial that began at the Harju County Court on February 8, Khalilov partially admitted his guilt, while fellow accused Kalasnikov did not. Khalilov pleaded guilty in part, in that he exceeded the speed limit, while Kalasnikov did not admit his guilt but admitted that he did exceed the speed limit.
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Editor: Helen Wright