The van had just left a church in the Morumbi district of Uberlândia and was heading for Nova Ponte. On a rural stretch of the 452 highway, a car came the other way. The two vehicles met head-on late on Saturday, August 9. Four people died. Sixteen were hurt.
The fire brigade gave the toll. A boy of 4, a woman and an elderly man were killed in the van, and so was the driver of the car. The impact flung both vehicles to the edges of the carriageway. The child lay outside the van when the first crews arrived. Rescuers waited for the forensic team to finish its work, then cut the woman, the elderly man and the car driver out of the wreckage. Radio Itatiaia reported that the car ended up on its right side with its driver trapped inside.
Where the injured went
Hospitals took in sixteen survivors. Nine went to the emergency ward of the federal university’s teaching hospital, five to the UAI Tibery and two to the UAI Pampulha. By Sunday morning, Itatiaia learned, most of those treated at the UAI units had been sent home.
What is known about the cause
Officials have not said why the car ended up in the oncoming lane. The only account so far comes from one of the van’s occupants, who told firefighters the group was returning from church and that the car was travelling against them. The causes will be investigated.
There is also a naming wrinkle. G1 first called the road a federal BR-452, then corrected itself: the stretch is a state concession, labelled MGC-452 and run by the concessionaire EPR Triângulo. Other outlets still use the BR-452 name.
Sources
- Acidente na MGC-452 em Uberlandia: 4 mortos e 16 feridos (G1)
- Tragedia em Uberlandia: acidente com van que voltava de igreja (Radio Itatiaia)
