Fifty-three cars and ten lorries were involved in a multiple pile-up yesterday evening in heavy snow on the Madrid-Zaragoza A-2 motorway. The accident seems to have been caused by a car travelling too fast which lost control and slewed across the carriageway. The two women who died in the smash were travelling in the car behind which was unable to brake in time to avoid the collision.

Twenty-eight other people were injured in the accident, two of whom seriously, which occurred at around 6pm in an area known as Puerto Cavero, near Calatayud, but most suffered only minor cuts and bruises. The last of the injured were removed from the scene by 8pm, but the road remained closed for some time while the wreckage was cleared, causing tailbacks of up to 6km. Around sixty people were forced to stop overnight in Calatayud owing to damage caused to their vehicles.