Officials in Uzbekistan have denied that a traffic police officer died in a motorcycle collision with a passenger car that took place after a Tashkent road was closed to make way for the presidential motorcade.

Not long after the fatal crash (captured by this dashcam footage at about eight seconds on the countdown), head of the presidential security service, Alisher Usmonov, was dismissed by presidential decree, but no statement on the reason for the dismissal was released.

RFE/RL's Uzbek Service on July 22 reported witnesses as saying that the police motorcyclist who died on the spot, and two other motorbike-mounted police officers who also crashed into the Chevrolet Onix vehicle, were on July 16 travelling at high speed when they encountered traffic they would not have expected to have been on the road. The witnesses were reported as saying the road was closed for the "presidential motorcade," while RFE/RL added that two sources in the Uzbek security services confirmed that the three traffic policemen were serving the motorcade.

"These officers were security guards coming at the back of the presidential motorcade. They did not expect another car to come from the opposite direction," one source, speaking on condition of anonymity, was reported as stating.

The street where the fatal smash happened is in Mirzo-Ulugbek city district. It is closed during the passage of the presidential motorcade.

Despite the RFE/RL report, Uzbek authorities have refuted claims that the officers involved in the collision were escorting an official motorcade.

The accident occurred at around 6:30pm local time at the intersection of Durmon Yuli and Gazalkent streets, according to the Road Safety Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

The dashcam video recording appears to show traffic officers temporarily halting vehicles at the intersection before allowing traffic to resume. As the traffic lights turn green and the Onix enters the junction, two motorcycles travelling side by side strike the vehicle, followed moments later by a third motorcycle. The impact causes one motorcycle to catch fire, while the car is thrown into oncoming traffic, colliding with at least two additional vehicles.

Zoyir Yuldashev, press secretary for the Road Safety Department, confirmed the fatality and announced that a preliminary investigation had been launched. He dismissed reports circulating on social media that the motorcycles were escorting an official motorcade.

"Incorrect information is being circulated on social media claiming that the accident occurred during the escorting of a motorcade. We ask media representatives and social media users not to disseminate unsubstantiated reports," the department said.

Some social media users have argued that video footage in circulation appears inconsistent with the authorities' account. Observers pointed to a black Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van that passed through the intersection moments before the collision, noting that similar vehicles are commonly associated with security convoys for senior government officials in Uzbekistan.

Dismissed official Usmonov led the presidential security service from December 2020. He has been replaced by Rustam Jurayev, formerly first deputy minister of internal affairs and head of the Public Security Department.