Three relatives of Pope Francis killed in Argentina traffic accident

Pope Francis

Argentina: Three relatives of Pope Francis have been killed in a car accident in Argentina and his nephew is seriously injured, police confirmed on Tuesday.

The Pope’s two great nephews – Antonio, two, and Jose, eight-months - and Valeria Carmona their 38-year-old mother died instantly when the car in which they were travelling collided with a lorry on a motorway in the region of Cordoba just after midnight.

The car was being driven by Emanuel Horacio Bergoglio, 38, the son of the pontiff’s late brother Alberto, who survived the crash that killed his wife and two sons but has been hospitalised with “multiple injuries”.

The family were returning to their home in Buenos Aires after a long weekend break in the mountains when their Chevrolet Spin drove into the back of a truck carrying maize.

Jose Martinez, the local police commissioner, confirmed the three deaths and said Mr Bergoglio was being treated in the Hospital Pasteur de Villa Maria where his condition was described as “very serious”.

A hospital spokesman confirmed that the driver had “undergone surgery and was now breathing with the aid of a respirator”.

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The accident happened some 550 kilometers (340 miles) northwest of the capital Buenos Aires near the city of James Craik.

The 60-year-old driver of the truck survived unharmed.

A Vatican spokesman said: "The Pope has been informed of the tragic accident in Argentina involving family members and he is deeply saddened.

"He asks all those who share his pain to unite with him in prayer."

After making a lot of noise to punish the Senate for including a controversial amendment to the Public Finance Management Act, the MPs failed to make their voice heard through action.

The leadership of the Coalition for Reform and Democracy and the Jubilee coalition ambushed MPs when they forced the chairman of the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee Samwel Chepkonga to drop his intention to amend the Bill.

It was an academic exercise when Chepkonga rose and told the Senate that they were wrong in their approach, but right in their intentions.

"I agree with the tenor of the amendment but not the procedure. The Senate is trying to smuggle in ordinary amendments through a special Bill. We need to bring discipline to the Senate," said Chepkonga.

The change to the PFM Act gives the Commission on Revenue Allocation the power to set ceilings for the counties, especially, the amount individual counties can spend on recurrent expenditure.

But even with that Chepkonga withdrew the amendment, much to the chagrin of some MPs, among them Tom Kajwang' (Ruaraka) and Opiyo Wandayi (Ugunja).

They blamed Majority Leader Aden Duale and Midiwo for coercing Chepkonga to drop the amendment.

But Duale objected: "Individual members can withdraw amendments to the House, whether you have been coerced by your wife or girlfriend. But the truth is, it is very important to have the CRA set ceilings for the county governments."

The MPs also took issue with the Senate for failing to include a commencement date on the County Allocation of Revenue Bill, 2014.

"If we do not put in a commencement date, this Act will not come into operation for another two weeks. That will mean that the county governments will not have money. May be the senators were tired because of all the impeachments, because I don't want to imagine it is because of derelection of duty or neglect," said Mr Mutava Musyimi (Mbeere South), the chairman of the Budget and Appropriations Committee.