Skopje, 3 January 2025 (MIA) — Prosecutors have launched an investigation into the cause of the car crash at Rashche where an Audi with five occupants swerved off of a local road and plunged into the Vardar River on Thursday afternoon.

Shortly after the crash, an injured child was taken to hospital after being found by passersby, and police retrieved the bodies of three women trapped in the sinking car on Thursday evening while a public prosecutor on duty inspected the crash site.

"Despite the extremely difficult conditions and inaccessible terrain, all actions were taken to collect trace evidence to determine the cause of the accident," the Skopje Primary Public Prosecutor's Office said in a press release. 

An autopsy order has been issued for the car crash victims, and a search for another person who was in the car is under way.

Contrary to earlier reports that a man had been driving the Audi, the PPO said the car driver was one of the women who died in the crash.

"According to initial findings, the vehicle was driven by one of the deceased," the PPO said, adding that a forensic examination of the vehicle was pending.

Eyewitnesses, as well as the car crash victims' relatives, are currently being interviewed. mr/