The driver of the truck who was involved in the serious accident occurred on BR-116in Teófilo Otoni (MG), last Saturday (21), gave testimony of more than six hours to the Civil Police on Monday afternoon (23). Arilton Bastos Alves was released shortly after being interviewed by the delegate investigating the case. 
According to the truck driver’s defense, Arilton was not at large, but left the scene of the accident because he panicked when he realized the severity of the collision between a bus carrying 45 people – of which 41 died -, a car and the trailer he was driving. .
“Arilton witnessed the bus on fire; people screaming; desperate; crying and asking for help. Although he had no responsibility for what happened, he panicked. He was even afraid of being attacked when he saw several vehicles stopping close to the scene. Therefore, after seeing that he was unable to provide any assistance, he left the place”, said lawyer Raony Scheffer in an interview with Brazil Agency.
According to the lawyer, he walked to a nearby gas station, where he asked for a ride to the São Vito district, in Governador Valadares, about 160 kilometers away, from another truck driver who already knew him. In São Vito, Arilton contacted a relative who picked him up and took him to Barra de São Francisco (ES), where he lives and where he received his first medical care.
The driver was treated and advised to rest while representatives of the company that owned the truck took the first legal measures.
“The company’s lawyer went to the scene of the accident, explained the situation to the police chief and agreed that my client would present himself on Monday [ontem] in the afternoon in order to be heard. We acted in good faith, as agreed”, guaranteed Scheffer, ensuring that, although shaken and under the influence of medication, Arilton answered all the questions asked during the hearing.
The Civil Police of Minas Gerais even asked for judicial authorization to arrest the driver, but the Minas Gerais Court denied the request.
Suspended wallet
Scheffer also refuted the accusation that Arilton was working with a suspended National Driver’s License (CNH). “In fact, his license was suspended, but he obtained a court decision revoking this suspension”, stated the lawyer, guaranteeing that the document was returned to the truck driver on the 12th by the Special Court of the Public Treasury of Barra de São Francisco.
The lawyer was unable to say why the license was suspended.
Accident
In the lawyer’s assessment, the accident was a fatality caused by a mechanical problem in the bus involved. Scheffer cites the testimony of survivors who were traveling in the car that collided with the trailer.
“They claim that the bus tire burst, causing the driver to lose control and enter the oncoming lane, colliding head-on with the trailer,” commented the lawyer.
The hypothesis that the accident was caused by a tire explosion is one of the lines of investigation by the Minas Gerais Civil Police. The other is that the trailer was overweight, at high speed, and that, in the district of Lajinha, in Teófilo Otoni, a large block of granite came loose from one of the trailers, falling onto the track and then falling. be hit by the bus.
“Arilton was traveling on the road, within his control, within the speed limits, everything was fine. Because the road allows traffic at up to 100 km/h [em alguns trechos]and the trailer has a device that limits its speed to 90 km/h”, explains the lawyer. According to him, the data is recorded remotely and the company that owns the trailer must hand over the information to the authorities.
Scheffer informed that the trailer was new, from 2022, was in “perfect condition” and had all maintenance up to date.
