A 40-year-old man died today at the wheel of his car when it was hit by another car driving in the wrong direction down the M-50 in Madrid.

According to police and emergency service reports, the accident occurred at 5.30pm on Friday and involved a total of three vehicles: a Toyota with two people inside driving the wrong way, a Renault Twingo with just one person inside and a third car in which four members of the same family were travelling, two adults and two children.

The violent impact caused such serious injuries to the driver of the Renault Twingo that he was killed instantly.

The driver of the Toyota, aged between 20 and 30, who was not carrying any documentation, was also injured and had to be rescued by the fire service.  He was taken to the Gregorio Marañon hospital but there has not yet been any statement from staff about this severity of his injuries.

The passenger in the Toyota fled the scene before police officers arrived.

All four people who were travelling in the third car have been taken to the Arganda del Rey hospital with slight injuries.