New Danube Accident Closes Belgrade Road

City-owned company Beograd put (Belgrade Roads) shut the road to the Ada Huja peninsula after the accident on Saturday, following an appeal from Serbia's Interior Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic.

"It is necessary to close the road as soon as possible in order to prevent another accident like the one that happened three weeks ago when three young people died," Stefanovic told the media on Saturday.

He said that traffic police would strengthen checks at Ada Huja and prevent drivers from approaching the quay and the river.

No one was hurt in the most recent accident, when a car came off the road, stopping just before going into the Danube.

But on November 22, a drunken teenager drove a car into the Danube at Ada Huja, killing three passengers. The other four, including the 19-year-old driver, managed to get free and swim to safety.

Following the fatal tragedy, Zorana Mihajlovic, Serbia's deputy prime minister and traffic minister, announced on November 24 that people under the age of 21 will be banned from driving between 11pm and 6am and will not be allowed to drive after drinking any amount of alcohol.

According to Mihajlovic, the new rules should come into force on January 1, 2015 after being adopted as emergency measures by parliament.

The road leading to the peninsula is poorly lit with no proper signs to warn drivers that they are approaching the river.

Belgrade mayor Sinisa Mali on Sunday that he had spoken to the head of the local municipality and a council member in charge of traffic to ensure that the route is made secure.

"They will try to find a way to secure this road together with the Belgrade Port, which owns the property where the road is," Mali told the Tanjug news agency on Saturday.