Two British men have died and a third has been critically injured in an accident on a Spanish road where a speedboat fell off a trailer and into the path of their car
Spain: Two Brits killed in car crash with speedboat on motorway
Two Brits have died and another is fighting for his life after their car smashed into a suspected drugs traffickers’ speedboat that came off a trailer on a dual carriageway.
The trio were the first to hit the ‘narcolancha’ when it ended up on the tarmac near the resort of La Manga in Spain. Police today confirmed the nationalities of the victims, saying another eight people in six cars travelling behind them were injured in the mass pile-up.
The driver of the vehicle which had been carrying the suspect vessel on a trailer fled the scene and was still being hunted by police today.
The death smash occurred occurred around 9.30pm last night on the RM-12, a dual carriageway known colloquially as La Manga motorway, near to El Algar between La Manga and Cartagena.
A Civil Guard spokesman confirmed the pair’s nationalities at midday today, saying both they and the critically injured victim “were British men aged 47 to 54”.
The spokesman said: “The accident happened around 9.30pm last night on the RM-12 around the El Algar municipality. A semi-rigid boat on board a trailer a vehicle was pulling came off and ended on the road across both lanes.
“A car travelling behind it with three British men inside aged between 47 and 54 smashed into the vessel. Two of those people died and another, who was the driver, was critically injured. Eight other people travelling in six vehicles behind them also crashed into the boat and were injured.
“The driver of the vehicle that was travelling with the speed boat on the trailer fled the scene. He has yet to be arrested. The boat he was carrying that ended up on the dual-carriageway has all the characteristics of a so-called ‘narco lancha’ involved in drug trafficking and an investigation is ongoing.”
It was not immediately clear today if the unnamed British nationals were on holiday or lived in the area. It is also not yet known if they were travelling in a hire car or owned the car they were in.
Footage from the scene showed several vehicles at a halt amid the debris on the dual-carriageway by the boat. At least one of the cars involved in the smash ended upside down and another was left with massive damage to its front and its roof caved in.
Although the police said this morning they were only hunting the driver of the four-seater 32ft suspected ‘narco lancha’, it was reported locally he was travelling with a passenger who also fled the scene.
Detectives are working on the theory they could have been heading to the coast to smuggle ashore drugs. An emergency response coordination centre reported in the aftermath of the huge pile-up: “Traffic accident on the RM-12 heading towards La Manga in the municipality of El Algar.
“A collision involving several vehicles has occurred with people injured. We recommend using alternative routes to facilitate access for emergency responders.” The British man said to be fighting for his life is believed to have been taken to Virgen de la Arrixaca University Clinical Hospital in Murcia.
At least four of the other people injured, whose nationalities have not been disclosed but are not thought to include Brits, have been taken to another hospital in Cartagena called Santa Lucia Hospital.
Firefighter spent nearly half an hour freeing the bodies of the two Brits who died from the mangled wreckage of their vehicle. They are believed to have been pronounced dead at the scene after emergency responders realised they were unable to do anything to save them.
