Spain rally crash victim was due to give birth

Spectators were struck by the vehicle when its driver lost control during the La Coruña? Rally. Photo / @jromerocastro via Twitter

A heavily-pregnant woman killed in Spain's worst-ever rally accident was due to give birth tomorrow.

Ana Cayazzo and partner Miguel Caridad, both in their 20s, died instantly when they were struck by one of the race cars as it lost control on a bend.

Poignant pictures - posted by Miguel on his Facebook page before the tragedy near La Coruña in Galicia, north-west Spain - show him tenderly patting his girlfriend's belly.

Town hall officials in Cambre, the neighbouring town to Carral where the accident happened, told a local paper Ana was nine months pregnant and due to give birth Tuesday.

Miguel, a keen motor racing fan, is understood to have persuaded her to watch the rally a short drive from their home

Tragedy struck just before 8pm Saturday (local time) when driver Sergio Tabeayo Sande, who comes from Carral, lost control of his Peugeot 206 XS on a bend and smashed into a 20-strong crowd of spectators.

Four women, two men and a 13-year-old girl were reportedly killed in the crash, with 16 people including several children injured, some seriously.

Another pregnant woman was reportedly among those who died.

Three other people killed in the Spanish rally tragedy were named today as Marcos Prego, Sandra Maria Ares and her 13-year-old daughter Aroa, from Carral.

It was initially thought the dead youngster was eight but authorities later confirmed she was a teenager.

Mr Prego was watching the rally with his son who was injured and remained in hospital this afternoon. Sandra's son is also among the injured.

Four children, including two who are in intensive care, were still being cared for in hospital this afternoon.

One of the seven adults still in hospital was also in a "very serious condition" in intensive care.

The first ambulance is said to have taken nearly half an hour to reach the scene.

Ana Cayazzo and partner Miguel Caridad, both in their 20s, are believed to have been killed instantly. Photo / via Facebook

Initial reports said the spectators killed and injured had been asked to move on from the unprotected bend by a steward moments before the accident but returned when he left.

But Carral mayor Jose Luis Fernandez Mouriño told a radio programme as a police probe into the accident got underway that he would have stood in the same spot if he had gone to see the race with his children.

He said: "We're often daring and stand where there's no security but in this case apparently there was no danger."

Local Civil Guard traffic chief Francisco Javier Molano, revealing five of the six seriously injured are children, said all the victims were on the right hand side of the bend near a church where the accident happened.

He added: "All the documentation, the drivers and the vehicles had been checked and everything was correct.

"Despite this, terrible events of this kind happen."

One of the friends of the dead couple claimed that although organisers had asked spectators on the left of the bend to move back from the road, those on the right who were hit by the out-of-control car were not given any instructions to move away.

Witnesses to Saturday's tragedy complained the first ambulance had taken 20 minutes to reach the scene, although officials insisted the race had been suspended immediately after the accident so paramedics could get to the area as soon as possible.

Seven ambulances took the injured to three hospitals in the nearby city of La Coruña.

Most of the children went to a specialist children's hospital, with the adults being taken to La Coruña University Hospital Complex.

Hairdresser's son Miguel was the grandson of Cambre's gravedigger and used to help his granddad, nicknamed O Perello.

He was featured in his local paper in January when he cheated death when a heavy gravestone fell on top of him.

He was off work for a couple of days but escaped serious injury when the 200 kilo gravestone landed on top of him when the scaffolding he was on collapsed.

Speaking after he was rushed to hospital and treated for bruising and a muscle tear, he said: "It could have been very serious. I could easily have lost my life that day."

Another of the women victims was named as Laura Dubra, also from Cambre, who went to school with Miguel.

The other three people who died are understood to be from Carral where the accident happened.

Town hall sources described them as a man and a mother and daughter. The youngster is understood to be aged around eight.

No Brits are thought to be among the injured.

The driver and his co-pilot, named as Luis Miguel Prado Santos, were unhurt but are being counselled by experts.

Spanish PM Mariano Rajoy tweeted: "My heartfelt condolences for those killed. I wish the injured a full and speedy recovery."

Spain manager Vicente del Bosque said after his side's 2-0 Euro 2016 win over Slovakia last night/on Saturday night: "We regret this loss of life and we are thinking about the relatives."

Cambre mayor Oscar Garcia decreed three days of mourning for the three victims from its municipality along with neighbouring municipality Carral.

Carral mayor Jose Fernandez Mouriño said he had spoken to the driver of the car that careered into the group of around 20 spectators but he could not remember anything about the accident.

He told journalists after trying to console Sergio Tabeayo Sande: "What he wants to do is disappear. He's absolutely devastated."

- Daily Mail