112 incident

Malaga services encounter difficulties in removing overturned lorry due to crushed electric taxi posing risk of fire

Two specialist companies have been working since 10am to remove the 23 tonnes of cargo from the trailer using a tow-away method, as a heavy-duty crane cannot fit through the underpass

12/11/2026 Actualizado a las 17:40h.

Two companies specialising in the removal of goods and heavy vehicles began work at 10am on Thursday to clear the interior of the Carlos Haya ... tunnel in Malaga city, where a lorry overturned onto an electric taxi on Wednesday.

The operation presents extreme technical difficulties due to a number of concurrent factors. Firstly, the need to manoeuvre inside an underpass prevents a heavy-duty crane from gaining access to lift the vehicle, as the machinery does not fit inside the tunnel. This means that the operators are forced to remove the cargo and the damaged vehicles by dragging them along the carriageway.

Added to this is the risk of fire. The lorry is carrying 23 tonnes of liquid and baking flour: a flammable load which, following the overturn, has come into direct contact with the crushed taxi, an electric vehicle. This situation greatly increases the risk of a fire breaking out in the car and its batteries while manoeuvring on the road.

- Driver of lorry that crushed taxi in Malaga tunnel arrested
María José Díaz Alcalá

The government sub-delegation in Malaga has warned that, should a fire break out during the excavation work, the flames could cause serious damage to the tunnel's structure and result in much greater damage to this key transport link in the city.

Atascos en distintos puntos de Málaga

Ñito Salas

For this reason, the operation is proceeding in accordance with prevention protocols to ensure both the safety of the workers and the protection of the road infrastructure.

The incident caused utter traffic chaos on the approach roads to Malaga on Thursday morning. The complete closure of the MA-20 near Carlinda and the tunnel, with the resulting compulsory diversion of traffic via the A-7 towards the ring road, brought both the Marbella-bound A-7 and the Malaga city centre-bound A-357 to a collapse.

Read dedicated local reporting for Malaga city