In the early hours of this Tuesday, six people died in a road accident on the AP-4 highway, in Seville. The incident occurred when a truck, apparently evading a Civil Traffic Guard checkpoint, violently rammed several vehicles that were in the operation.
Although the authorities are in full investigation, the first investigations suggest that the truck experienced what is known as the ‘scissors effect’, a situation in which the vehicle moves to the shoulder and runs over other cars. This phenomenon usually occurs when the truck’s head wheels lock and the trailer, with less braking capacity, turns laterally at a sudden angle.
The truck would have suffered damage indicating an impact against the vehicles present at the traffic control before experiencing the ‘scissor effect’. This sequence of events has left six people dead, two slightly injured, two seriously injured and one in critical condition.
The first hypotheses point to a possible driver’s distraction or fatigue as the cause of the accident, ruling out an intentional act. The driver of the truck, arrested after the event, returned negative results in alcohol and drug tests, although he faces possible charges of reckless homicide.
Authorities are carrying out braking measurements and analyzing the vehicle’s tachograph records to determine the speed at which it was traveling at the time of the crash.