Driver of lorry that crushed taxi in Malaga tunnel arrested

The accident left access to the city early on Thursday morning blocked, due to the technical complexity involved in removing the damaged vehicles.

The detainee, a Moroccan national like the haulage company he works for, emerged from the accident virtually unscathed. According to initial investigations, the lorry loaded at some point along the Mediterranean coast and was travelling towards Cadiz, carrying 28 tonnes of flour and cooking liquids when it lost control at around 8.10pm.

The main theory of the police suggests that the combination of speed and the wet road surface due to the rain led to the trailer jackknifing, causing it to overturn onto the carriageway and collide head-on with the taxi, which had just joined the road from Avenida de Valle-Inclán.

Early on Thursday morning, the traffic situation in Malaga was chaotic. The approaches to the city from the Marbella-bound A-7 and the Malaga city centre-bound A-357 experienced significant delays, as access to Avenida de Valle-Inclán remained completely blocked and traffic on the MA-20 was restricted to a single lane near the tunnel, with diversions towards the A-7.

At the time of going to press, workers had not yet cleared the road due to a delicate technical issue: the crushed taxi is a hybrid vehicle fitted with an electric battery. If the rescue teams were to drag the lorry's cab over the car to separate them, the friction could cause a spark and trigger a fire.

For this reason, Thursday's operations are focusing on first unloading the 28 tonnes of goods the lorry is carrying and then lifting and removing it using a heavy-duty crane.

The operation following the crash put the emergency services to the test. Given the size of the lorry and the condition of the taxi's passenger compartment, the fire brigade had to work for two hours carrying out meticulous extrication manoeuvres to free the victim.

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