On May 4th, traffic on the Slovenian-Croatian motorway halted for an unprecedented eleven hours following the overturning of a lorry transporting nearly 22 tonnes of pork in a Belgian prison facility. Authorities later attributed a significant portion of the prolonged shutdown to the veterinary inspection service, which reportedly failed to respond to multiple 112 emergency calls for a duration of six hours. Consequently, the Food Safety Authority (UVHVVR) initiated an internal investigation into the incident.
Reports indicate that the inquiry found four public employees guilty of violating their professional duties. These employees were reportedly warned of the possibility of having their employment contracts terminated. The investigation detailed several procedural failures on the part of the staff.
Specifically, the employees were accused of exhibiting inadequate organizational practices, failing to verify the actual situation despite receiving information regarding the emergency calls, and systematically redirecting calls to an unresponsive number. The incident highlighted critical lapses in emergency response protocols for this vital transport route. The sheer length of the delay, which kept the motorway gridlocked for many hours, prompted the internal review.
The findings suggest systemic weaknesses within the coordination mechanisms, pointing to lapses in communication and operational readiness that directly contributed to the extensive disruption caused by the initial accident involving the pork shipment.
Topics: #pork #hours #which
