Pope Francis was deeply grieved, the Vatican’s official broadcasting service said yesterday, after three relatives died when their car slammed into the back of a grain truck on a highway in central Argentina.
His nephew, Emanuel Bergoglio, who was driving the car, was in serious condition following the accident just after midnight on Monday.
The nephew’s wife, 35, and two children aged two years and eight months died.
“The Pope has been informed and is deeply grieved by the tragic news. He asks all those who share his pain to join with him in prayer,” said a statement on the Radio Vaticana website.
The truck driver, Raul Pombo, told local television stations he felt the impact and found Bergoglio’s car wedged under the rear of his vehicle.
“I began stopping passing cars to ask for their fire extinguishers because the car was on fire,” Pombo said.
The region’s highway patrol chief, Jorge Rainieri, called the impact “powerful” and television pictures showed the mangled wreckage of the car.
The accident occurred in Argentina’s central Cordoba province.