Road works are not to blame for any of the traffic accidents which took place over the past weekend, Transport Minister Ian Borg said this morning.

The most major of the accidents, saw two women from Zabbar pass away last night in a tragic accident in the outskirts of Mgarr. The women were identified as Graziella Mallia, aged 53 and Fallon Mallia, aged 31. The accident took place at around 8.30pm on the road that leads from Mosta to Mgarr, an area where road works are taking place. It involved a Maruti and an Audi. The two women were in the Maruti.. Aside from the two lives lost, seven others, including four children, were injured.

Borg was addressing a business breakfast, when he spoke of the incident. He urged drivers to be responsible. The minister said that none of the reported incidents this past weekend were linked to ongoing roadworks. While urging drivers to be safe, he said that we do not just risk our own lives, but also the lives of others. He said that a magisterial inquiry is underway on the aforementioned accident.

Speaking in Parliament late on Monday afternoon, Borg was questioned on the incident during the period reserved for Parliamentary Questions and he reiterated his statement from the same morning.

Asked by Labour MP Rosianne Cutajar and the now Independent MP Hermann Schiavone about the safety measures that were being taken with regards to works on Maltese roads, Borg said that the incident had taken place on an existing part of the road and that at this point it was best to err on the side of caution and wait for the outcome of the magisterial inquiry before adding further comments.

He said that Infrastructure Malta do not wait for incidents to occur before checking the safety measures of each site, adding that the agency already does everything to make sure that all safety features are followed; "it is an ongoing process and there is no need for political intervention for it to be carried out", he said.

Photos below by Alenka Falzon