An 18-year-old French national died early on Tuesday in a crash on the AP-7 motorway in Llers, Alt Empordà, in Girona province. The death came less than 24 hours after another fatal road accident elsewhere in Girona.
The collision happened shortly after 5am when a car with five occupants hit the back of a lorry. The other four people in the car suffered less serious injuries and were taken to Josep Trueta Hospital in Girona, according to officials. Mossos d'Esquadra traffic officers, Generalitat firefighters and Medical Emergency System staff attended the scene, and paramedics tried to revive the victim but could not save him.
Mossos d'Esquadra traffic police are investigating the cause of the crash. The Catalan Traffic Service said two of the three lanes towards France were closed for vehicle recovery, causing queues of up to one kilometre in the affected stretch.
The AP-7 has faced growing congestion and more accidents since tolls were removed. The RACC motoring club has called for the motorway to be transferred to the Generalitat so it can be better maintained and managed, with measures to reduce congestion. More local news
An RACC study carried out with the Catalan Traffic Service found that lorries are involved in 55% of serious accidents in the Girona area, even though they account for 27% of total traffic. That data points to heavy vehicles as a major risk factor on this corridor.
The crash followed another fatal incident on Monday afternoon, when a 20-year-old man from Santa Coloma de Gramenet died as a passenger in a head-on collision on the C-63 in Lloret de Mar. The driver of that car was seriously injured and airlifted to Josep Trueta Hospital, while the driver of the other vehicle, an SUV, was uninjured.
With Tuesday's death in Llers, the number of people killed in traffic accidents on Girona's roads this year has reached nine. The fatalities are spread across the territory, with three in La Selva, two in Gironès, two in La Garrotxa and two in Alt Empordà.
