Three injured by luggage tractor

Three British tourists were in Palma hospitals last night after being run down by a luggage tractor at Palma airport yesterday morning. The three victims, according to sources at Son Sant Joan airport, are a couple in their 60s and a 40-year-old man. All had just flown in from Newcastle and were waiting for their baggage in the luggage collection hall at the time of the accident at 11.15. It appears that the tractor lost control, entered the luggage hall through one of the emergency exits, between the luggage drop-off area and the collection area, and careered in to the three holidaymakers. Why and what the tractor was doing in the luggage hall is being investigated, but the USO union said last night that the kind of tractor involved in the accident has been involved in accidents when they have lost control before and should not be used. The couple in their 60s suffered slight injuries, mainly bruises, but the 40-year-old holidaymaker suffered a fractured ankle and complained of being in severe pain. Initially the three victims were treated by Iberia medical staff at the scene, but once the extent of the injuries became clear, they were transferred to clinics in the capital. The scene of the accident was immediately cordoned off by airport staff as a full inquiry was launched. Juan Rafael Medina, head of prevention and safety for the airline Iberia, whose luggage tractor it was, said that a few years ago a member of the airport ground staff in Palma was knocked down and killed by one of the vehicles involved in yesterday's accident. Accident investigators spent most of yesterday at the scene of the accident and inspected the tractor.