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Date Published: 06/01/2023
ARCHIVED - Tragic Three Kings: Seville parade float crushes woman, 72, to death
The elderly victim was run over by a float during the celebrations in Marchena, Seville
A 72-year-old woman died in the Seville town of Marchena when a tractor pulling a float during the Three Kings parade lost control and ploughed into the crowd. As reported by Emergencias Seville, the vehicle careened uncontrollably for around 15 metres at the height of the festivities on Thursday January 6.
The tragedy occurred at 8.15pm on Calle Las Mina when tractor and float swerved to the right and flew uncontrollably towards dozens of bystanders before crashing into a wall.
At least five other people were injured, including a two-year-old child, who is in a stable condition at the Virgen del Rocío hospital.
According to eye witnesses, the incident occurred right at the end of the celebrations, when the last float carrying King Baltasar was making its way towards Calle Las Torres. The other performers and musicians had just enough time to scramble out of the way of the tractor amid screams from the crowd.
"Everything was going well. The accident occurred on a downhill slope that is not very steep or long,” one observer explained. “We were on the bend and I saw that the tractor was going down very slightly.
It seemed strange to me and, seeing that it was increasing speed, we moved away. The tractor, instead of turning towards the street it should have, turned to the opposite side and took out everything in front of it."
Police, firefighters and two emergency ambulances rushed to the scene, where several bystanders had already removed an elderly woman from underneath the tractor. Sadly, the 72-year-old died from her injuries. The driver of the float, also believed to be of an advanced age, was taken to hospital and treated for an anxiety attack.
"The driver of the tractor was taken away in the ambulance. He could only cry with his hands on his face," a witness described.
The president of Andalucia conveyed his condolences to the victim’s family on social media, conveying his shock “that such a happy day ends in tragedy.”
Image: Emergencias Sevilla
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