A 48-year-old man has died in a traffic accident involving two cars on the N-332 bypass in Torrevieja, one of the area’s busiest road sections, with an average of 50,000 vehicles passing daily in July.
The crash occurred around 10:00 a.m. at kilometer 54.4 of the bypass, near the Ferrís junction where vehicles merge from the CV-95. According to early reports, the incident was a rear-end collision involving two cars traveling in the direction of Cartagena, toward the Orihuela coast.
Emergency services, including local traffic officers from the Guardia Civil and medical teams, quickly responded to the scene. Two ambulances and an advanced medical unit (SAMU) attended to the victims. A 28-year-old man with minor injuries was taken to Torrevieja Hospital. The 48-year-old driver, however, could not be saved despite resuscitation efforts. His death was confirmed by emergency medical personnel at the scene. He was of Spanish nationality.
Initial investigations suggest one vehicle struck the rear of the other—an all-too-common type of accident on this stretch of road. Overtaking is prohibited for safety reasons over an 8-kilometer segment marked by double solid lines. As a result, sudden traffic slowdowns often catch drivers off guard, leading to rear-end collisions. While such accidents are frequent here, they typically result in only minor injuries due to the generally low speeds—vehicles rarely exceed 50 km/h between the CV-905 and CV-95 near the hospital.
Authorities are also considering the possibility that the deceased driver may have suffered a medical emergency that caused him to lose control before the crash.
This section of the N-332 is notorious for year-round congestion, with traffic jams worsening significantly in the summer. The road has just one lane in each direction and frequently appears on the national traffic authority’s (DGT) alerts for heavy traffic—often for up to nine hours a day. In July, it sees over 50,000 vehicles per day, with peaks reaching 55,000 in August.
Plans to widen this stretch have been on hold for more than a decade, despite ongoing calls for investment to improve safety and traffic flow.
SECOND ACCIDENT – FOUR INJURED
Less than two hours after the morning’s fatal accident, Torrevieja firefighters were once again called into action—this time to rescue four people trapped in a crashed vehicle on the N-332 at kilometer 61, near the ring road and the Private Hospital bridge.
The accident occurred when the driver, an elderly man, reportedly lost consciousness due to a heart condition. He lost control of the vehicle, which veered off the road and overturned onto its side, landing in a storm drain that runs parallel to the highway. The crash also brought down a streetlight pole.
Inside the wrecked car were four Spanish nationals—two men and two women, all related—who were trapped and unable to free themselves. Firefighters carried out a two-hour rescue operation to safely extract them. The Civil Guard’s traffic division and emergency medical teams from CICU also responded to the scene. Fortunately, the lane remained open to traffic during the rescue.
All four occupants were taken to Torrevieja University Hospital. The driver sustained a head injury, the front passenger suffered a chest contusion, one of the rear passengers had a broken arm, and the other escaped with minor injuries.
This was the second serious incident on the N-332 ring road that same Wednesday morning—a stretch known for heavy summer traffic, though the section where this crash occurred is typically less congested.
