Two women have died and two men have been injured, one of them in critical condition, after the vehicle they were traveling in fell into the sea at the port of Algeciras (Cádiz) as they were about to board a ship bound for Tangier.
The accident occurred during the early morning of this wednesday, September 2, around 00:30 hours, at dock number 1 of the Galera wharf. The emergency service 112 then received the alert that a car with four occupants had fallen into the water.
The two women, aged 71 and 43 years, were trapped inside the vehicle. Divers from the Special Group of Underwater Activities (GEAS) of the Civil Guard recovered their lifeless bodies.
The other two occupants, both men, managed to exit the car. They were taken to a hospital and one of them was in critical condition, according to information provided by Emergencias 112 Andalucía.
The car had passed the National Police control
The investigation is now trying to reconstruct what happened during the minutes immediately before the vehicle fell.
The four occupants were scheduled to board a ferry bound for Tangier. Before the accident, they had passed the National Police control and the boarding staff had indicated the area where they should wait to board the ship.
However, the vehicle did not stop at that point and continued moving forward.
The car continued its path until heading towards the ramp of the cliff of dock number 1 of the Galera wharf, from where it ended up plunging into the sea.
The police are now investigating why the car went straight instead of stopping in the waiting area.
What the initial inquiries show
The exact circumstances of the accident have not yet been determined.
Sources close to the investigation point to a distraction of the driver as one of the possibilities. The poor visibility present during the early morning is another circumstance being considered to reconstruct what happened.
For the moment, it cannot be stated that the fog was the cause of the accident.
The available information indicates that the vehicle continued its trajectory towards the edge of the wharf before falling into the water. The investigation will need to determine if there were other factors and analyze the complete route taken within the port facilities.
Among the elements that can help clarify the accident are the images from the port's security cameras, which will allow reconstructing the last movements of the tourists.
The victims were mother and daughter and resided in Segovia
The two deceased were mother and daughter, of Moroccan nationality and residents in Segovia, according to the information known after the accident.
They were 71 and 43 years old, respectively, and were traveling in the back of the vehicle.
The two men who also occupied the car managed to escape after the car fell into the water. The medical services attended to both and transferred them to the hospital.
One of them suffered more serious injuries and was evacuated in critical condition.
A large rescue operation at the Galera dock
The accident mobilized numerous emergency services during the early morning.
The Emergency Medical Center 061 dispatched two ambulances, while the Firefighters mobilized four units.
Maritime Rescue, Civil Guard, GEAS, National Police, Port Police, and Firefighters also participated.
The specialists from GEAS were in charge of underwater tasks to access the vehicle. When they managed to reach the two women who remained trapped inside, both had died.
No confirmed direct relationship with the Operation Crossing of the Strait
The accident occurred when the occupants intended to make a crossing between Algeciras and Tangier, one of the main maritime connections between Spain and Morocco.
However, there is no record that the accident has a direct causal relationship with the Operation Crossing of the Strait (OPE).
The coincidence with this operation explains the high movement of travelers and vehicles that the port registers during these dates, but the open investigations focus on determining why the vehicle continued moving until it fell into the sea.
The investigation must now clarify the exact route taken by the car, the existing conditions at the dock, and any other element that could explain the accident.