On August 19 a little past midnight, Emanuel Horacio Bergoglio, Pope Francis' nephew, crashed the back of a cargo truck loaded with corn in Argentina's central Cordoba province. The accident resulted in the deaths of Bergoglio's wife, Valeria Carmona, 38; and their two children, 8 months and 2 years.
As the family was returning to Buenos Aires following a holiday weekend, their vehicle slammed into the back of a truck and burst into flames. Bergoglio's wife, Carmona Valeria, and their youngest son Jose, 8 months, died at the scene. Antonio, Bergoglio's two-year-old, died at the hospital. Emanuel Bergoglio, the Chevy driver, suffered a variety of injuries including liver trauma and a fractured femur, according to police.
According to Horacio Alberto Gimenez, chief of the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Police, Bergoglio, the son of the Pope's late brother Alberto, is a medical examiner while Valeria was a social worker that worked with law enforcement and victims of domestic violence.
"I began stopping passing cars to ask for their fire extinguishers because the car was on fire," said Raul Pombo, the driver of the truck. He found Bergoglio's vehicle wedged under the rear of his vehicle after he felt a sudden impact.
The accident occurred between the cities of Rosario and Cordoba. The television pictures showed the mangled wreckage of the compact car and the region's highway patrol chief, Jorge Rainieri, called the impact of the crash "powerful."
The Pope was "profoundly saddened," the Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said. The pope was informed about the tragic accident soon after the former archbishop of Buenos Aires returned to the Vatican from a five-day visit to South Korea, his first visit to Asia since becoming pontiff last year.
The Pope asks "all who share in his grief to unite with him in prayer," Rev. Federico Lombardi added in his statement.
