Playa del Ingles Gran Canaria: Woman dies sunbathing on beach after 4x4 truck runs over her chest
A woman has died after a 4x4 pick up truck drove over her chest while she was sunbathing at a beach in a popular holiday destination.
The 64-year-old woman had been lying on the sand on Playa del Ingles beach in Gran Canaria while her husband took a dip in the water. The driver of the vehicle did not stop and had to be tracked down by police shortly after the tragedy.
The driver insisted he had no idea he had just hit someone. The incident occurred at about lunchtime on Monday (2 December) near the famous Maspalomas Dunes, a few feet away from a beach kiosk believed to be among those the pick-up delivered merchandise to.
The ongoing police investigation is understood to be focusing on why the vehicle was on the beach outside of the permitted 8am-11am delivery times, and whether it was keeping to a designated route. Officials have not yet confirmed the victim’s nationality but she is understood to be a German woman who was holidaying in the south of the Canary Island.
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A spokesman for a regional government-run emergency response coordination centre said: “A woman has died after being run over a by a quad on a beach in Gran Canaria. The incident occurred around 12.30pm yesterday at Playa del Ingles in the municipality of San Bartolome de Tirajana. She was confirmed dead after beach lifeguards responded with initial medical assistance. Police attended the scene along with paramedics.”
Well-placed police sources said the driver who ran over the tourist passed drink and drug tests. He has been fully identified but is not thought to have been arrested.
He now faces being quizzed by an investigating judge put in charge of an ongoing court probe into the tragedy. Police have not yet revealed his nationality. He has been described locally as a 50-year-old who had been working on the beach for a decade and knows the area very well.