Five killed in Castellon crash

FIVE young men have been killed in a serious accident on the N-340, as it passes through the town of Alcala de Xivert.

The collision between an articulated truck and a Peugeot 406 killed the five young car occupants instantly on a curved section of road that is notorious for being dangerous.

The deceased men were Senegalese and aged between 30 and 36. According to traffic police, the deceased men were travelling to Benicassim where they lived. 

Three were not wearing seatbelts. A spokesman from the Directorate General of Traffic (DGT) said the department has hypothesized that the driver may have fallen asleep as there were no skid marks on the road. 

The car had swerved onto the opposite side of the road, right into the path of the oncoming truck.

The men were heading home to Vinaros after a day of selling items to tourists in Benicassim. “We have to support our families,” said a friend of the deceased who added that the men were “tired” after a very long day of street vending that had started at dawn. 

Their bodies were transported to the Institute of Legal Medicine in Castello for autopsies.

The truck driver, a male 48-year-old Spanish national, was uninjured in the collision. He tested negative in a test for drugs and alcohol carried out at the scene by the traffic police. 

The road remained closed to traffic for three hours.

So far, 12 people have been killed on that road this year. This is the second most serious accident in Spain in 2014, after the collision in the Alicante town of Cox on July 22 which killed eight holidaymakers.