Head-on collision on A-356 in Malaga province on Saturday claims the lives of four people

A tragic accident on Saturday on the A-356 in Casabermeja has claimed the lives of four people. Three people had died in the crash and another four were injured (two seriously). One of the injured, an 18-year-old girl, died in the early hours of Sunday morning at the Hospital Clínico, where she had been taken by helicopter, according to sources consulted by SUR.

The provincial fire brigade consortium told SUR late on Saturday afternoon that this is one of the most shocking accidents that it has attended. And this is confirmed by the harsh images of two vehicles, a white van and a Jaguar, destroyed and turned into pile of twisted metal.

The victims are a 47-year-old woman, her 18-year-old daughter - who died in the early hours of the morning - and the mother's partner, a man also aged 47. The couple were registered in the rural area of Pie Gallina, in Alhaurín El Grande, near Villafranco del Guadalhorce. The woman was apparently of Ukrainian origin. The three were travelling in the van that was involved in the accident, together with another young man, who is in a serious condition.

The fourth fatality is another 18-year-old woman who was driving the luxury car, which collided with the white van with great force. The incident also resulted in three other injured people being rushed to the Clínico hospital: two women aged 22 and 30, and an 18-year-old man.

The accident occurred on the eastern side of the A-356, which connects Vélez-Málaga with Casabermeja. According to municipal sources, in the absence of reports and an investigation, the first hypotheses would indicate that the car had swerved across the road and ended up pushing the van several metres off the road after a very violent head-on collision at high speed. The impact occurred near the Jewish cemetery in Casabermeja, in an area where, according to the cited sources, visibility is good.

As a result of the crash, the front of the vehicles were literally ripped apart, leaving skid marks on the asphalt, and a multitude of belongings and scrap metal strewn across the road. The emergency services had to work to remove the bodies trapped inside the vehicles.

The 112-emergency service was notified at around 2pm on Saturday and the work involved closing the road for three hours, although by 5pm, things had returned to normal.

A large deployment of emergency services was despatched to the scene, including the Guardia Civil’s traffic corps, the Casabermeja Local Police, the provincial firefighters consortium, with units from the Antequera and Colmenar stations, and 061, which deployed a helicopter, three medical teams and a mobile ICU.

This has been a black year on the interurban roads of the province. So far, 19 people have died in traffic accidents, figures that are projected to double those of last year.

It is worth remembering that 2023 was already a tragic year in terms of accidents, with a total of 38 deaths on the non-urban road network of Malaga. These were the worst figures compared to the previous six years.