Seven British tourists hurt in three-car pile up

A family of seven Britons on holiday in Majorca all escaped with their lives yesterday after being involved in a horrendous traffic accident. Three vehicles were involved in the crash at the Petra roundabout along the Palma to Manacor road, including a mini-bus in which the British family was travelling. All except a ten-year-old British boy, suffered only minor injuries. The child, one of three brothers aged between six and 12 years, was rushed by ambulance to Manacor Hospital in a serious condition for emergency treatment. The remaining six Britons were also eventually taken to a medical centre - ambulance personnel and police were worried that one of the six had been seriously injured, but fortunately there were no other serious casualties. According to traffic police, the accident was caused by one of the three vehicles involved failing to give way at the roundabout. Police said that a Seat Ibiza, a Fiat Multiple personnel carrier and a Ford Transit mini-bus were the vehicles involved. Both the Seat and the Fiat only carried a lone driver, the British family of seven, including one elderly woman, was travelling in the mini-bus and the added weight of their luggage, according to the police, increased the force of the impact. A major emergency operation was immediately launched as soon as the alarm was raised. Fire crews from the Felanitx and Manacor brigades rushed to the scene. Two of the victims had to be cut free from the mangled wreckage of the vehicles as a fleet of ambulances and paramedics stood by at the scene ready to treat the injured. The Guardia Civil closed off the road momentarily while medics assessed the situation. They then remained at the scene to control traffic while the victims were taken away for treatment and the three seriously damaged vehicles removed from the road. The accident was one of the worst on Majorca this year and police said yesterday that all of the people involved were very lucky as the injuries could have been much worse.