FIVE people have been killed in a multiple pile-up on the A-7 motorway through Murcia and another 10 injured.
Nine cars, two lorries and two vans collided, blocking both lanes in a northbound direction in Sangonera la Seca, to the south of Murcia city and close to the La Paz service station late on Monday night.
Of those who died, four were in the same car – a man and three women, two of the latter believed to be teenagers – and the fifth was travelling in another of the cars.
The crash was caused by a lorry running into the other vehicles for reasons which have not yet been clarified.
A 17-year-old woman with head injuries and a man and woman aged 36 with serious cuts and bruises were taken to Murcia's Virgen de la Arrixaca Hospital.
Three men, one aged 26 and two aged 17 were taken to the Morales Meseguer Hospital with multiple wounds.
Another four suffered minor injuries, one of whom was taken to the Reina Sofía Hospital and the others, three men aged 29, 31 and 64, were treated at the scene.
Five military emergency response vans, 10 firefighters, five ambulances, the Local Police, Guardia Civil and the region's director-general of citizen safety and emergencies José Ramón Carrasco were among those called out to the scene.
A tailback of over 20 kilometres was reported for several hours and drivers warned to leave the motorway south of the accident site.
The lorry driver who caused the crash, Hipólito A.P., 38, from Totana, was uninjured but in shock.
Getting out of his vehicle and sitting down on the crash barrier, he broke down in tears and called his father, whom he used to work with driving forklift trucks.
Hipólito said he was 'in a state' and 'did not remember anything' about how the crash happened.
He is said to have tested positive for cocaine, a revelation which has left his family distraught.
Hipólito's uncle, Silvestre, says his nephew had been a professional driver all his working life and had never had an accident before, not even a minor bump.
He spent the night in a police cell but was released with charges yesterday (Tuesday) afternoon and his driving licence taken off him, meaning he can no longer work.
The four people in the same car who died were a family from Elche (Alicante province) travelling home after a few days' break in Almería.
They have been identified as 53-year-old José Vicente Gaspar Maciá, who was well-known in his home city as he trained the juniors and B-teams for Elche FC; his sister-in-law Josefa Belmonte, 48; José Vicente's 14-year-old daughter Elena Maciá, and Josefa's daughter Laura Fabra, 16.
Elena's mother, José Vicente's wife and Josefa's sister was also in the car, but survived with injuries.
Their car, along with that of the fifth person who died – a Murcia man who has not been identified – ended up right underneath the lorry.
