In one of the most tragic incidents, five people, including two children, lost their lives on Sunday when the car they were travelling in collided with a speeding train at an unguarded level crossing in the village of Karwica Mazurska in the country’s northeast.
The accident occurred shortly after 5 p.m., and the impact was so severe that the car was completely crushed, making immediate identification of the victims impossible, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
Authorities later confirmed that the victims included a 63-year-old man, two women aged 62 and 29, and two children aged 6 and 3.
In a separate incident, a 24-year-old man was killed and five others were injured when a 20-year-old driver, reportedly under the influence of alcohol, lost control of his BMW and struck a group of pedestrians in the coastal city of Słupsk overnight into Sunday.
Officers say they have stopped a total of 935 drunk drivers during their annual Operation Torch road safety campaign, which started on Thursday and runs until Monday evening.
All Saints' Day on November 1 and All Souls' Day on November 2 are when millions of Poles visit the graves of their loved ones, often travelling hundreds of kilometres to their home towns.
Every year at this time, officers step up patrols on major roads, paying special attention to vehicle speeds and checking to ensure drivers are sober.
During last year’s All Saints' travel period, 19 people were killed and 286 injured in 258 accidents on Polish roads, according to police data.
(gs)
Source: IAR, PAP