Calpe in mourning as two young children die in accidents on successive Sundays

Mother and baby run over by parked car, just a week after four-year-old girl fell off fifth floor balcony

The Costa Blanca town of Calpe is in shock after two young children have lost their lives in tragic accidents within a week.

A baby girl who was just 20 days old has died and her mother has been hospitalised in a critical condition after they were run over by a car without a driver, which was parked on a steep hill.

Town hall sources told the press that the vehicle had started to move very quickly backwards until it struck them both.

This happened late on Sunday afternoon in La Empedrola urbanisation on the outskirts of the town centre.

The mother had been carrying her baby’s pushchair and was also with her other child, a four-year-old boy, who was unhurt.

The mother is in a critical condition in intensive care at Dénia hospital, where she has been operated on, according to Calpe’s councillor for public security, Guillermo Sendra.

The baby was taken by Local Police officers to the health centre, and from there by ambulance to Alicante General Hospital.

After that she was evacuated to La Fe Hospital in Valencia but she had died by the time they arrived, town hall sources reported.

An investigation is underway to determine if the handbrake of the car could have failed.

The vehicle crashed into a kerb and rolled over several times, ending up on its roof on a terrace of the hillside.

The councillor and Mayor Ana Sala attended the scene of the accident as soon as they heard what had happened.

Balcony plunge

The town was already reeling after a four-year-old girl fell from the balcony of a fifth floor apartment in the town centre in the early hours of the morning on September 7.

She landed on top of a parked car and was rushed to Alicante General Hospital in a very serious condition, where she died from her injuries five days later.

The incident is being investigated by police under the direction of a court in Denia.

According to one local press report, it happened in a building on Avenida de la Diputación and two other children had been in the apartment at the time, but no adults were there.

Municipality in mourning

The town hall has declared three days of official mourning for the two children, from September 16-18, when all public activities organised by the council will be cancelled and flags will be flown at half mast.

Image: Archive