EXCLUSIVE: Out of control? Death lorry crash witness speaks out

A BRITISH father-of-two has spoken of the events surrounding a deadly lorry crash that he witnessed on the Costa del Sol.

“I was in the car that the lorry overtook just before it crashed,” London-born Darren John Cook, 44, told the Euro Weekly News.

“Lots of people on social media have been making comments that he was speeding unnecessarily, but he was sounding his horn repeatedly and I believe there was a problem with the vehicle.”

It comes after the articulated lorry careered off the A-7 dual carriageway on a notoriously dangerous bend in La Cala de Mijas, plummeting several metres onto the beach.

“My wife Kasia was driving and I don’t think he tried to slow down as he hit the bend, then the trailer fell sideways, slid along the road and then the whole lot went through the barrier.”

“He could have been out of control and I think it’s wrong to judge him without all the evidence.”

Mr Cook, who has lived in Cabopino for the last three years and teaches at a private Marbella school, continued: “He did not die on impact, myself and a couple of other people rushed to the beach to try and save him and he was speaking to us before he died.

“We could see diesel pouring out but a couple of Spanish men managed to get the door partially open and confirmed he was alive.

“When the police arrived we were asked to step away.”

Mijas fire brigade has confirmed the above version of events after the incident was misreported in other local media.

An official at the town’s fire station, speaking exclusively with the Euro Weekly News, said: “Two Spanish lifeguards – who we know personally – managed to get the door open and reach the driver, but they were unable to resuscitate him.

“There were no British people involved in giving mouth-to-mouth.”