Deadly Van Crash Highlights Risks for Moroccan Farm Workers in Spain

A van transporting nine seasonal workers from Caravaca de la Cruz to Lorca (70 kilometers) fell into a ravine on Friday, October 21, killing three and injuring others. Nadia Lahidia, 46, of Moroccan origin, sitting in the front of the vehicle with the driver, says she remembers the latter shouting: "We’re going to crash," before losing control of the wheel. Another seasonal worker, Chadia Madari, who jumped out of the vehicle, is seriously injured. Hamis Msimer, who was traveling in the back seat, died on the spot, like two other seasonal workers, reports El Pais.

Nadia has head and arm injuries. She says she was unconscious after the accident. Chadia, the woman who had jumped out of the vehicle, remembers seeing a man come near her in the bushes to rescue her. On Thursday, Nadia and two other seasonal workers victims of the accident were able to leave. The van driver, seriously injured, is still in hospital. The causes of the accident remain unknown so far.

Ángel Torregrosa, CC OO delegate in the region, and Sabah Yacoubi, president of the Murcia section of the Association of Moroccan Workers and Immigrants (ATIM), denounce this extremely dangerous practice, specifying that the van driver, who also works in the field, is already exhausted before taking the road, often at night. This year, there are already six dead (twice as many as last year) and 66 injured in road accidents, says Juan Blázquez, health and safety secretary of the CC OO in Murcia.

These accidents are recurrent. In 2016, a van with seasonal workers on board fell from a bridge on the Aguilas motorway. The toll was five dead and three injured. In 2011, in Lorca, 12 other seasonal workers died when a van collided with a train at a level crossing.