It was a terrible end to a black festive season on Portugal’s roads. Last Sunday saw eight people lose their lives – three of them bikers.
One of the bloodiest accidents took place in the middle of the morning on a stretch of road habitually marked by death. The run down to Cabo da Roca from Azóia, at the foot of the Sintra hills, has become infamous for the number of bikers who come a cropper during weekly pilgrimages to the country’s westernmost point.
Last Sunday was no exception – but this time two bikers died in the same accident and a third was severely injured.
César Almeida, 34, and Luís Lourenço, 43, were described as regular Cabo da Roca bikers.
Their fatal journeys crossed paths when Almeida was on his way to Cabo da Roca, just as father-of-two Lourenço was returning, and back on his way down to Cascais.
According to news reports, “one of the motorcyclists skidded and hit a third vehicle, a 125cc motorcycle”.
Two of the cyclists died instantly, while the third was rushed to hospital with serious injuries.
Elsewhere, in Tondela a third motorcyclist was killed after skidding off his bike near Naia; a 41-year-old driver died after coming off the road in Aljustrel; a 70-year-old was killed in Marco da Pipa, Pombal; a 31-year-old nurse and a 45-year-old man died in a collision involving two cars near Alqueva; and a 70-year-old woman lost her life in an accident in the habitual “bottleneck” of vehicles converging on Lisbon’s Vasco da Gama bridge.
Considering Operation “Natal Tranquilo” had already been a shambles (see: https://stg.portugalresident.com/black-christmas-on-portugal%E2%80%99s-roads), Operation “Ano Novo” was no better.
Aside from the devastating number of fatalities, there were a number of serious accidents on the country’s roads which have seen victims fighting for their lives in hospitals.
The fatal collision on the ER255 near Alqueva, for instance, also caused “grave injuries” to a 40-year-old woman and two children, aged 14 and eight.
The man who died in the accident – Domingos Alves from Mafra – was reported to have been celebrating his 45th birthday.
