Couple who died in traffic accident in Malaga province on Saturday were going to a wedding reception

The couple who died in the tragic accident on Saturday on the A-356 in Casabermeja, which claimed the lives of four people in total, have been named as Andreea Lancu and Alfonso Guijarro, both 47 years old.

The couple, who lived in the rural area of Pie Gallina, in Alhaurín El Grande, near Villafranco del Guadalhorce, were on their way to a wedding reception in Colmenar, but the van in which they were travelling was involved in a head-on collision with another vehicle, the driver of which was also killed. The 18-year-old woman from Malaga was travelling with two friends aged 30 and 22, one of whom remains in a stable but serious condition, while the other has been discharged from hospital.

Andreea, from Bucharest, and Alfonso, from Malaga, died along with an 18-year-old girl; while their son, also 18, was admitted to the ICU and is still recovering. According to people close to the family, the girl was a friend of the family of Ukrainian origin who lived in the United Kingdom, and her body was repatriated on Monday.

“I hope their child can continue his life with great strength, supported by the invisible hands of his parents,” a family friend said of the couple’s son.

The day after the accident, a group of friends, still shocked by the tragedy, went to the scene of the accident to place flowers in memory of their friends. “Now, when you pass by the place where they lost their lives, you don't just find flowers, you find the bride's bouquet, which she left there after hearing about the fatal accident of her friends,” a person close to the family told SUR.

People close to the couple say they will always remember them for "their kindness, humility and generosity".

Andreea was an animal lover and she helped out at a local animal shelter, and she also cared for 16 dogs in her home that she had taken in and adopted.

“Her big dream was to be able to buy a little house in the countryside where she could keep the dogs. She was surrounded by the four-legged friends she cared for and loved so much,” said Eva, from the Apa Málaga Cero animal protection association, with which Andreea actively participated.

“She was a great person with a good heart and with a strong but at the same time exceptional character. Despite not being from here, she had an Andalusian sense of humour,” added Eva.

One thing that characterised Andreea, Eva explained, was that she was very hard-working, alternating her work in a beauty centre in Álora with her job in a bar in the La Trocha shopping centre in Coín.

While Andreea's passion for animals filled the family home with dogs, her husband Alfonso's love for music made the home a place where silence and rhythm went hand in hand. Alfonso played drums in the group, Los Masqueperros, and his bandmates acknowledged their friend on their social media page: “Alf, Fito, Alfonso, it's your turn to set the rhythm wherever you are: thank you for existing and being a great friend.”

“It is not fair that life has treated them like this, Alfonso was a great friend, father, husband, fighter and enthusiastic about his music group that was slowly opening doors. Andreea was a great pillar in the lives of many, as big as the void she leaves behind,” another of their friends said.

Now the friends of the couple, are asking for justice for their deaths, as well as for the rest of the victims.

Alhaurín el Grande town hall sent its condolences on behalf of the town to the relatives of Andreea and Alfonso.