Police have named the boy who died in Thursday morning's crash on the E18 at Bommestad, outside Larvik, as 12-year-old Ibrahim Mujanovic. The family, from Kristiansand, was travelling towards Sandefjord when the accident happened, according to NRK. The boy's school, Vågsbygd skole, described him as a central figure in his class and said he will be deeply missed.
Why it matters
The death has hit a school and a city on Norway's south coast, and it has also opened a debate about winter road maintenance. Police say the road was very slippery where the car went off, and the Norwegian Public Roads Administration (Statens vegvesen) has confirmed that the stretch in question had not been salted. The agency says it is now reviewing how it salts roads.
A school gathers to grieve
Vågsbygd skole kept its doors open on Friday from 16:00 to 18:00 so that pupils and parents could be together, with staff present. The headteacher, Ellinor Skaiaa Aas, told NRK that the family has the school's warmest thoughts, and that Ibrahim was a very fine boy who brought his classmates together.
Kristin Eidet Robstad, director of upbringing services in Kristiansand municipality, called the accident deeply tragic. She said three of Ibrahim's siblings attend the same school, an older sibling is at the local lower secondary school, and a younger one is in a kindergarten in the same district. The family is still being looked after in the municipality where the crash occurred, Robstad said, and the city's crisis team will be ready when they return home.
What police know so far
Police lawyer Linn Kristine Thelle said investigators are gathering surveillance footage from the area and still need to interview witnesses and those involved. She said she hopes this will give a clear picture of what caused the accident. Police have already spoken to one witness who drove up to the scene and described the surface as slippery; officers who arrived also reported the same conditions, Thelle said.
On Thursday, police said they had seen video showing the car losing grip, rolling onto its roof and coming to rest in the ditch. Thelle said it is too early to draw conclusions about the cause. Asked whether the car had winter tyres and whether seat belts were in use, she said those are points the investigation is working to establish. Blood samples have been taken from the driver as a matter of course, but there is no suspicion of impaired driving at this stage, according to the police lawyer.
Thelle said police are pursuing several theories and have one main line of inquiry, but she would not give details while interviews are outstanding and out of consideration for the family. The family has been so affected by the crash that police have not yet been able to take statements from them, she said. Forensic officers and the roads administration's accident team have carried out examinations at the site, and police have asked for footage from the southern traffic control centre, which has a camera at the busy junction. A report from Statens vegvesen on the vehicle and conditions at the scene had not yet arrived, Thelle said.
Salting under review
Statens vegvesen confirms the road was slippery when the crash happened, but that this section had not been salted. Ingmar Ulvenes, a section head at the agency, told NRK that the left lane, where the car was travelling, was slippery while the right lane was not. He said salting was considered during the night, but the stretch was dry at the time and was judged safe. Spot salting was carried out on the E18 that night, meaning selected exposed places were treated rather than the whole route; from Fokserød in Sandefjord and northwards, the full stretch was salted.
Ulvenes said the contractor made its assessment as well as it could, with weather maps to consult and staff physically out on the road during the night, and that the decision was made in good faith. The crash will nonetheless prompt a review of salting practice. "We have to look a little at methods and the way we salt. Whether we should move towards more salting even when it is dry," Ulvenes said, according to NRK.
The investigation continues, with police awaiting the roads administration's report and the traffic camera footage as they work to establish why the car left the road.
