Diogo Jota car crash road 'more dangerous that any other in region'

The road where Diogo Jota and his brother tragically died in a car crash is notorious for being one of the most dangerous in the region. The Liverpool forward, 28, and his brother Andre Silva, 26, were killed just past midnight on Thursday morning on the A-52 at Cernadilla, near Zamora in northwestern Spain.

It is believed that the Lamborghini they were travelling in veered off the road after the tyre was suspected to have blown out, before going up in flames.

The two professional footballers had been travelling through Zamora towards Santanderin order to catch a ferry to the UK ahead of the new football season.

READ MORE: Police confirm what caused Diogo Jota car crash on motorway that killed him and brother

READ MORE: Virgil van Dijk makes emotional promise to Diogo Jota's family after tragic death

Now, it has emerged that the A-52, known as the Rias Bajas, is notorious for being a particularly deadly highway. Built in 1998, it is said to see more accidents than any other in the region, with the central government representative for the province of Zamora, Angel Blanco, describing it as “very dangerous”.

The year 2023 alone saw 19 accidents on the dual carriageway, which is full of high-speed bends, with an average of 1.5 deaths per incident. According to Cope, many of those accidents came during optimal conditions, such as dry road surfaces, good visibility, flowing traffic and natural light.

At night, however, there is said to be poor visibility, while the road running through mountainous and forested areas means the area also suffers from recurrent fog spells.

Thousands of vehicles take the A-52 each day, but data shows that many crashes occur on the straight, high-speed stretches, where one mistake can be fatal. The main causes of accidents there are distractions and a lack of attention, as well as overconfidence, though that has not been confirmed as the case in the brothers’ tragic crash.

The area where the Liverpool star came off the tarmac is also a well-known hotspot for wolves, according to La Razon. The Iberian wolves in the area, as well as deer, pose a huge risk of serious accidents due to the lack of fencing and the deterioration of wildlife crossings, giving wild animals easy access to the motorway.

La Voz de Galicia reports that the A-52 is not the only road in the province of Zamora where wolf accidents are common. The animal is also abundant in the corridor between Benavente and Orense via Sanabria (N-525 and A-52); the N-630 between Benavente and Montamarta, the N-631 between Montamarta and Rionegro del Puente and the N-122 between Zamora and Portugal via Aliste, in addition to other secondary roads.

Reports were also filed in recent years to motorists' organisation AEA Club drawing attention to the treacherous potholes that "riddled" the road surface. There were no fewer than 40 official pothole complaints made to Spain's transport ministry in a single month last year, according to local news outlet La Opinión de Zamora.

One family published a photo of a tyre that had been completely shredded by one of the hazards. Meanwhile, another complaint in 2018 said a lack of signage nearly caused a driver to crash as it failed to alert them of a lane ending.

Jota is believed to have been travelling to Santander to take a ferry back to the UK on Thursday morning after he was advised not to take a flight following recent lung surgery. The Portugal international missed several games last season after sustaining a rib injury against Chelsea back in October.

Emergency services were called to the scene of the crash, where the fire had spread to the nearby vegetation. Although they managed to put the flames out, the two brothers were pronounced dead at the scene.

The funerals will be held at 10am on Saturday in their home town of Gondomar, near the Portuguese city of Porto.