Driver faces jail sentence for death of 9 tourists in Malaga

MALAGA Public Prosecutor is asking for four years in prison for the driver who caused an accident in which nine Finnish tourists died in 2008. He is also facing a six-year ban from driving.

More than twenty-five other people were seriously injured in the accident when they were travelling in a bus on the A-7 motorway between Benalmadena and Torremolinos on April 19, 2008. The passenger in the car was also injured. 

Expert reports carried out by the Guardia Civil concluded that the driver of the 4×4 which caused the accident was travelling at 155kph when the accident occurred, 35 kilometres over the speed limit, while the bus, heading to the airport was travelling at just under 100kph.

The weather conditions, strong winds and heavy rain, were also taken into consideration. The 27-year-old driver told Guardia Civil when he was being taken to hospital that when he tried to brake he lost control of the vehicle. However, he changed his statement the next day, saying he was travelling at 120kph, and that when he braked he swerved into the central lane and lost consciousness.

He was breathalysed after the accident and found to have twice the legal alcohol limit in his system. He was sent to prison, but in June 2008, Malaga Court set his bail at €18,000. All the people affected have already been compensated by the driver’s insurance company, including the bus driver, who was declared unable to work.

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