Anyone who watches the horrific footage on our website of a group of holidaymakers being mown down as a car recklessly ploughs into a crowd in the Spanish resort of Magaluf will rightly be shocked.
The crowd – among them a group of Bradford lads on holiday – watch in disbelief as the 4x4 heads for the mass of people and then not only fails to stop but scatters pedestrians and even runs over panicking holidaymakers thrown to the ground.
But what is perhaps most astounding is that even though the driver was eventually arrested, the group has heard that the police are treating the incident as a mere “accident”.
No-one who watches the video can possibly think there was anything in the driver’s intentions other than the desire to get through the crowd as quickly as possible with scant regard as to who was hurt in the process.
It is something of a blessing that the driver didn’t actually kill anyone with his cavalier four-wheeled rampage, especially during those excruciating scenes where his vehicle visibly rides over people on the ground.
We can only assume that the authorities in Magaluf have not made sufficient effort to interview the many witnesses and have clearly not seen the shocking video footage.
Travel always brings with it some measure of risk, which is why comprehensive insurance is a must-have. But wherever we go in the world, we should also be able to put our trust in human decency at its most basic level.
If those who, like this motorist, abuse that trust, then we must be sure that justice will be properly served. And those countries which fail to apply such justice must seriously ask whether they can be trusted to welcome visitors to their shores.
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