One dead and one seriously injured in the accident involving three trucks that has closed the AP-7 in L'Aldea
The accident, which has caused two vehicles to catch fire, has disrupted traffic in both directions for hours.
BarcelonaOne driver died and another was seriously injured early this morning in an accident involving three trucks on the AP-7 highway, which has been closed for hours near L'Aldea (Baix Ebre). The accident, the causes of which are still under investigation, resulted in two of the vehicles catching fire. Up to eleven fire crews have joined the efforts to extinguish the blaze, and traffic is expected to take some time to resume. The director of the Catalan Traffic Service (STC), Ramon Lamiel, explained in statements to TV3 that the collision occurred when one of the vehicles, traveling southbound, crossed the median and entered the northbound lanes. This caused a head-on collision with a truck traveling in the opposite direction, and a third truck, which tried to avoid them, overturned off the highway. The deceased man was the driver of one of the trucks, as was the seriously injured man. Emergency Medical Services (SEM) personnel have transferred the injured person to the Juan XXIII hospital, according to the Catalan Traffic Service (SCT), which reports the death as the 125th on Catalan roads so far this year.
The AP-7 motorway remains closed near L'Aldea (kilometer marker 320) in both directions, and traffic authorities anticipate that northbound traffic will take several hours to resume. Southbound traffic may reopen sooner. For the time being, while the vehicles are being removed and the road is being cleared, mandatory detours are in place via exit 308 to L'Ampolla southbound, and via exit 322 to L'Aldea northbound towards the N-340. The Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police) received notification of the incident at 5:23 a.m., and throughout the morning ten Catalan police patrols, eleven fire department units, and two SEM (Catalan Emergency Medical Service) units were deployed.