The Latvian State Police were alerted to the accident on the Vidzeme highway in Garkalne at 11.19 a.m. It has been established that a DAF truck first rammed into a Volkswagen car, which then crashed into the group of cyclists.
According to preliminary information, the Volkswagen had been accompanying the cyclist group. A number of people have suffered injuries in the collision, and a criminal probe is under way to establish the circumstances of the accident. The driver of the truck, a 49-year-old Polish national, was not drunk, police said.
Inga Vitola, a representative of the Emergency Medical Service, told BNS that five teams of paramedics were working at the scene.
Traffic has been restricted in the area of the accident.
Igo Japins, president of the Latvian Cycling Federation, told BNS that the victims are from Riga Cycling School but that he has no further details.
Riga Cycling School vice-principal Peteris Grikitis said that the accident happened during a training ride to the town of Sigulda. There were 12 children, aged 11 to 16, in the group and all of them were injured in the crash.
"Some of the children went home and will be treated by their family physicians, while the others with multiple injuries have been taken to hospital. Medics are still battling for the life of one child. Most probably, his leg will be amputated," Grikitis said.
