Walter Finch
A BRITISH couple on holiday in Spain lost their lives in a tragic traffic accident after they fell from their motorbike and were crushed under the wheels of oncoming traffic.
The victims, a 65-year-old woman and a 68-year-old man, were riding together towards Oviedo in Asturias on the A-8 motorway under an intense rain storm on Monday September 11.
It is thought that the man, who was driving, lost control of the bike in the wet conditions, as a yellow alert for torrential weather and thunderstorms was in place in the region.
The loss of control sent the man and his partner sprawling across the busy motorway at around 5.30pm near the popular tourist town of Llanes.
Moments later, the man was hit and killed by an oncoming lorry, while the woman was killed by a car which also crashed.
Firefighters were forced to cut her body free underneath the vehicle after it had landed on top of her.
A Guardia Civil spokesman said: “Two British nationals have died in an accident on the A8 motorway in the municipality of Llanes, near the Balmori exit.
“They were a couple aged 68 and 65. They were heading west in the direction of the provincial capital Oviedo when the motorbike they were on overturned for reasons which are still being investigated.”
The accident resulted in approximately two kilometres of tailbacks and temporary closure of the motorway, with vehicles being rerouted onto secondary roads.
It marks the second fatal motorcycle incident on Asturian roads in just two weeks.
On August 31, Alberto Martínez, a 25-year-old from Gijón, lost his life on the AS-114 road in Cabrales.
He fell from his bike inside the Alto de Las Estazadas tunnel and collided with a motorhome carrying Portuguese tourists.
A 27-year-old passenger on another motorcycle was also severely injured in the accident.
The deaths of the British couple in Llanes brings the total number of traffic-related fatalities to ten in Asturias this summer.
Between July and August, eight people lost their lives in eight separate accidents.
According to the Directorate General of Traffic (DGT) accident report, seven of these incidents occurred on conventional roads, while one took place on a motorway.
Motorcycle users accounted for three of the summer’s fatalities, with two in cars, one in a van, and two on quads.
READ MORE:
- British couple die from carbon monoxide poisoning caused by gas heater in Spain’s Mallorca
- British expat, 70, is killed in head-on collision after his motorbike ‘is knocked by van into wrong lane’ following ‘traffic row’ in Marbella
- 15 injured in a crash between a bus, a car and a motorbike in Barcelona city centre
