Costa del Sol
KIA driver said to be very depressed after allegedly causing Benalmádena coach crash last Saturday
By h.b.
Apr 24, 2008 - 4:34 PM

The father of the 27 year old man, Jesús G.R. from Málaga who is being held responsible for causing the tragic coach accident in Benalmádena last Saturday night in which nine Finnish tourists died, says that his son is under the effects of tranquilisers, but when he does have lucid moments he gets very depressed.

The 27 year old lost control of his KIA four wheel drive vehicle on a curve of the A7 road crashing into the coach which then overturned. 13 of the 41 injured remain in hospital.

The father told the Diario Sur newspaper ‘We are undone, defeated – it’s normal that we are like this. Now we are not up for anything, my son is poor, it’s very painful’.

The 27 year old is in the Clínico Hospital recovering from back surgery after the accident and is expected to be there for another two weeks, after which time he will have to declare to the court. The instruction judge will then decide whether to release the man on bail or imprison him immediately.

The most likely charge in the case is thought to be of negligent homicide, which carries a four year prison sentence in Spain. If malice is added to the crime, the prison sentence increases to eleven years.

Meanwhile the Civil Guard continue to investigate the accident and are reported to have commented to the press that if the KIA was going at 120 km/hour, the speed limit on the stretch, it would not have skidded, and the bus would not have overturned from the impact. That is the conclusion after analysing the weights of the vehicles concerned, knowing from the bus tachograph that it was travelling at 102km/hour at the time of the impact.