Malaga AP-7 motorway collision between several vehicles and subsequent fire kill two and seriously injure five

A road traffic collision that triggered a major fire on Monday afternoon claimed the lives of two people and forced the closure of the AP-7 toll motorway near Benahavís, Malaga province. Seven people suffered injuries, five of them serious.

The crash happened at about 5.15pm on Monday at kilometre 1069 of the AP-7, on the bridge over the Guadalmansa river in Benahavís. According to sources, an SUV carrying a family had broken down and was waiting on the hard shoulder.

A recovery lorry had arrived and was preparing to load the vehicle, while a taxi had come to collect the family.

For reasons that investigators have yet to establish, a fuel tanker carrying around 35,000 litres of fuel collided sideways with the three stationary vehicles on the hard shoulder: the taxi, the SUV and the recovery lorry.

The impact caused the lorry driver to lose control. The tanker continued for several metres before overturning and bursting into flames. The cab became detached from the tanker, plunged about 30 metres down an embankment beneath the motorway and continued to burn as fuel from the tanker spilled onto it.

The severity of the crash prompted a major emergency response. Firefighters from concentrated on extinguishing the blaze and stopping it from spreading to vegetation beside the motorway, close to the botanical park.

Traffic officers from the Guardia Civil, the Local Police and ambulance crews also attended the scene. They treated the injured and closed the motorway in both directions.

The authorities confirmed that two people died. One was believed to be the lorry driver, whose cab burned out completely. The other was an elderly womantravelling in the taxi that had come to collect the stranded family.

The same sources said five other people suffered serious injuries: the recovery lorry driver, the taxi driver, another casualty who suffered a cardiac arrest and whom an air ambulance transferred to the Punta Europa hospital in Algeciras, and, reportedly, two children.

The regional wildfire service, Infoca, also deployed a firefighting team to prevent the blaze from spreading into surrounding woodland. The operation included a light helicopter, a medium helicopter, 26 ground firefighters and a fire engine. The area lies close to the site of last week's wildfire, which forced the evacuation of around 2,000 people.

Infoca crews remained at the scene to monitor the area and extinguish any remaining hotspots, successfully preventing the fire from spreading to nearby vegetation.

Because of the thick smoke, the Andalusian regional government advised nearby residents to keep doors and windows closed, avoid the area and take particular care to protect vulnerable people, especially children, older residents and anyone with chronic or respiratory illnesses.

The traffic management centre said the scale of the fire left no option but to close the motorway in both directions.

Traffic on the Cadiz-bound carriageway resumed shortly after 6.30am on Tuesday. Towards Malaga, the right-hand lane stayed closed until crews removed the tanker trailer.

After working through the night, engineers from the motorway operator and the specialist recovery company reopened all lanes shortly before 8am, around two hours ahead of schedule.

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