A warehouse manager has died after a horrific crash on one of the north-east’s most notorious roads.
Alan Geals suffered fatal injuries when his black Peugeot 208 and a Tesco truck collided on the A947 Aberdeen-Banff route.
The 31-year-old driver of the white lorry suffered minor injuries and was taken to Inverurie Hospital.
The accident happened on the Fyvie-Oldmeldrum stretch of the A947, just south of St Katherines.
It is understood Mr Geals, who was 46 and married just over two years ago, had been on his way to work at Costco in Westhill.
His wife Audrey was too upset to talk about the tragedy yesterday.
The couple were married at the Fife Lodge Hotel in Banff on June 8, 2013, having met the year before.
Mr Geals’s brother , oil worker Ed, is believed to be flying home to the north-east from Angola today.
It is though staff at Costco became concerned when Mr Geals, who had been travelling from his home at Turriff, failed to arrive at his work
It is understood they contacted his wife who in turn got in touch with the police.
Mr Geals joined Costco in 2004 as an hourly employee but was soon promoted to a management position.
He then became a senior staff manager and for the last three years had held the post of merchandise manager at the Aberdeen warehouse.
Yesterday, a spokeswoman for the company said: “This is a sad loss to our company, warehouse and all Alan’s friends and colleagues in Costco.
“Our thoughts are with his family at this difficult time.”
Mr Geals is the ninth person to have died on the A947 in the last five years and a further 38 have been seriously injured.
The road remained closed until 2pm to allow crash investigators to carry out a detailed examination of the scene.
Fire crews from Turriff and Oldmeldrum were called to the smash, which happened around 3.25am yesterday.
It was the latest in a string of serious accidents on the north-east’s roads in recent weeks.
On Saturday morning, two motorists were badly hurt in a two-vehicle crash on the A90 Ellon-Aberdeen road at the Murcar roundabout.
The drivers of a grey Vauxhall Astra and a silver BMW both had to be cut free from their vehicles by firefighters before being taken to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.
The road was closed for approximately five hours after the crash, which happened around 9.30am.
Meanwhile, Christopher Watts, 26, died after his motorbike collided with a BMW on the B977 Echt-The Birks road on October 16.
The following day, George Dow, 28, died when his white Vauxhall Corsa van collided with a blue Honda CRV on the B9001 Inverurie-Rothienorman route at the Mains of Glack, near Daviot.
The driver of the car was also seriously injured.
Yesterday a police spokesman urged any witnesses to the latest accident on the A947 to contact officers on 101.