Guardia Civil investigating Palma police car fatality

The judicial authority has decided that the traffic police should carry out an investigation in order to prevent there being any "misinterpretations". Commanders at the police headquarters in Palma expressed some surprise on learning that the Guardia Civil would now be involved, but the court wants to ensure that there are no doubts as to what happened.

On Friday morning, Palma's councillor for public security, Joana Maria Adrover, and the Palma police commissioner, Antonia Barceló, held a press conference at which they denied that a bottle of alcohol had been found in the police car; some witnesses to the accident have suggested that there was a bottle. “There was no bottle inside the car. We don't know what intention there is in saying this," Adrover stressed.

Barceló stated that the police car's lights were flashing, again rejecting the version of some witnesses. “There is no doubt about this,” she emphasised, adding that the breathalyser test given to the police driver registered 0.0.

Mario Decandia, a 36-year-old Italian who worked as a waiter at the 49 Steps restaurant in the area of the accident, was killed when the police car ran over him, the driver having apparently lost control of the vehicle for reasons that have yet to be confirmed. Two other people were injured.