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A photo of the El Calderón bar after Monday's accident.
Four injured as vehicle ploughs into bar terrace on Christmas Eve

Four injured as vehicle ploughs into bar terrace on Christmas Eve

The driver said she had no idea what had happened and is believed to have mistaken the accelerator for the brake as she tried to leave the parking space

EUGENIO CABEZAS

Friday, 28 December 2018, 10:26

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A husband and wife and two other family members were hurt when a car mounted a pavement and crashed into the terrace of the El Calderón bar in Caleta de Vélez on Monday.

Antonia López, her husband, Modesto Gómez and Antonia's two sisters, Eva, 47, and Mercedes, 57, had just sat down to have a drink at around 2pm, having been to Caleta port to buy fish for their Christmas Eve dinner, when a foreign female aged approximately 40, got into the car which had been parked in front of the bar and attempted to drive off. She allegedly mistook the accelerator pedal for the brake, causing the accident.

Christmas in hospital

As the car mounted the pavement and crashed into the terrace, it broke a bollard and knocked over a lamppost as well as the awning of the bar. The driver tested negative in a police alcohol control. "The woman just said that she didn't know what had happened," said Antonia.

The three women were treated for shock and minor injuries. However , Modesto's leg became trapped against a support holding up the awning and was fractured in the accident. "We didn't have time to react. The car just came towards us," Antonia explained on Christmas Day, while at the Axarquía hospital where the family were taken to after the accident and where Gómez spent Christmas. The three women were allowed to go home on the same day.

Although Antonia said emergency services took "what felt like an eternity" to arrive she thanked them for their "magnificent treatment" and extended her thanks to bar staff and other customers.

Police have been talking to witnesses and the victims and the case will go to court.

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