Among those who died as a result of the tragic road accident that happened near Todiresti village of Anenii Noi district was the ex-footballer, football coach and referee Ion Clipa. The information was confirmed for IPN by the press service of the Moldovan Football Federation.

The man was on the way home and was in the Audi car that changed lanes accidentally. It was preliminarily determined that Clipa asked to be given a ride and was going home, to Anenii Noi.

Ion Clipa played for the teams Cristalul Falesti and Dinamo Chisinau. During the last few years, he trained the team Anina Anenii Noi and served as deputy head of the Anenii Noi sports school and chairman of the referee commission of the Anenii Noi Football Association. Last year, he received the Order of Merit from the Moldovan Football Federation. On January 19, he was to turn 65.

The accident occurred in the morning of January 15 and claimed five lives. The police determined that the Audi car with a Transnistrian license number that was driven by a 33-year-old inhabitant of Geamana village was speeding when he headed for Chisinau and lost control of the vehicle. This collided head-on with a Dacia car driven by a man aged 38 from Gura Bicului village.

Press officer of the Anenii Noi Police Inspectorate Silvia Vetcu has told IPN that two of the persons who died were occupants of the Audio car – the driver and a passenger aged 64 from Chisinau municipality. The other three victims who perished were a 22-year-old man and his daughter aged one year and a half from the Dacia and the driver of this car. A woman aged 24 and another one aged 23, who is the mother of the child who died, were hospitalized. The two women suffered different traumas and were admitted to the traumatology and neurosurgery sections.