14/05/2013 00:00
TW
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IT was a tragic weekend for the Balearics, after three people were killed and 14 people, including five members of the same family, were injured in traffic accidents. As reported in Sunday's Bulletin, British tour reps Denise Marshall, aged 45, from Cheshire, and James Perry, 19, from the West Midlands, were killed as they crossed the Avenida Tucan in the port of Alcudia, in the early hours of Saturday morning. The Guardia Civil are continuing their investigation into the deaths of the two British reps which occurred on a straight stretch of road, with good visibility, about 200 metres from the Magic centre. It was reported that they were taken unawares by the car which was travellling at high speed.
The driver of the car, a 28-year-old Spaniard named only as Carlos C S, was arrested after a breathalyser test showed that he was three times over the limit. He was released pending charges after an appearance in Manacor court.
Sources said that he could face charges of involuntary manslaughter, which carries a sentence of one to three years on each count.
Mrs Marshall had four children and two daughters and a sister arrived in Majorca yesterday.
Mr Perry's parents have also arrived on the island.
British Consular staff are organising the release of the bodies.
The two reps were employed by Britain's leading holiday company, Thomson, which expressed its sadness at their deaths.
A Thomson spokesman said: “Both would have been responsible for a number of hotels in the Alcudia area. “We are deeply saddened by what has happened. We are a close-knit company and we know all our reps. We have agreed to work very closely with the local authorities in their investigation into this incident.” MOTORWAY
Barely 24 hours after the death of the two reps, a man named only as Antonio C R, aged 26, was killed when the Renault Clio he was driving was involved in a head on collision with a Toyota Avensis at kilometre 26 of the Palma-Inca motorway.
The passenger of the Renault, a man aged 31, was seriously injured, as were the five members of the family travelling in the other car, who have not been named. They were a woman aged 48, a 52-year-old man and three children aged about 12. The victims had to be cut free from the wreckage of the vehicles by the fire brigade, while the Guardia Civil have opened an investigation into the causes of the accident. The injured parties were rushed by ambulance to Son Llatzer and Son Dureta hospitals, and the vehicles were towed away.
Another four people were injured in an accident which occurred shortly after midnight in S'Aranjassa, when two vehicles were involved in a collision.
Ambulances took the victims to the Clinica Planas.
In Minorca, four adolescents aged between 15 and 16 were injured when their mopeds were involved in a collision in Mahon late on Saturday night.
After the weekend, the death toll in the Balearics this year now stands at 35, three more than the same time last year. Fourteen of the victims were under the age of 30 and five of them were still in their teens. The local authorities have expressed their concern at the growing number of road deaths in the Balearics, most of which are attributed to speeding and/or drink driving and overtaking.