The Basic Criminal Court in Skopje has ordered detention for the 76-year-old driver of the Kosovo truck, suspected in the serious crash on Skopje's ring road that killed four people. The detention was ordered due to risk of flight and the possibility of repeating the offence. The investigation continues.

The crash happened on the stretch between the Vizbegovo overpass and the Mirkovci interchange. The driver, identified as B.B. from Kosovo, was operating a „MAN" truck with a semi-trailer when, according to the prosecution, „he failed to adjust his speed to road conditions, traffic density and other circumstances". The truck broke through the metal safety barrier, crossed into the oncoming lane, and collided head-on with a BMW car. Both vehicles caught fire.

The victims are three 20-year-old graduates - Marko Gjorgjievski, Petar Milanov, and Adam Velkov - and the father of one of them, opera baritone Riste Velkov. Velkov senior was 51. The three young men were former students of the „Nikola Karev" high school in Skopje, class of 2020-2024.

The prosecution requested detention, citing a real risk of flight - the driver isn't a Macedonian citizen - and the possibility of repeating the act. The pre-trial judge accepted the reasoning and imposed the measure, with the exact length still to be determined in the coming days.

The case has already opened public debate on two questions that usually get sidestepped - whether 76-year-olds should be operating heavy trucks in international transport, and whether the safety of the ring road near Mirkovci is adequately designed. We'll return to both in separate stories. For now, four empty chairs remain in one family, three in one high school. A price no sentence imposed on the driver can bring back.