La Gomera tragedy as man and woman killed by car while sitting on bench at winery

A couple sitting on a bench outside a popular wine cellar on the Canary Islands were killed after a car ploughed into them.

The two people sitting on the bench died when the car went straight into them. The freak accident happened on the popular island of La Gomeraand has left the local community devastated and in shock.

Police say the man and woman were just sitting chatting on the bench outside a rural winery, "La Tienda del Vino", at the entrance to Arure, visited by thousands of tourists as a "must see" when on the island. A car travelling up a hill at speed careered off the road, for reasons still be investigated, ploughed into the two victims and came to a standstill embedded in the tiny property.

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Both the man and the woman were killed instantly as there was "nothing they could have done to get out of the way". The tragedy happened at around 7pm on Sunday near the popular resort of Valle Gran Rey where a fiesta was being held.

The man who died was the owner of the establishment and a friend, a 59-year-old mother of two daughters. The car driver, resident of San Sebastián de La Gomera, was taken to hospital with a serious hip injury. A woman passenger was also seriously injured and was airlifted to hospital in Tenerife.

Emergency medics had to provide assistance in the area to several residents who were suffering from anxiety attacks. A police investigation is now underway.

Due to the seriousness of the incident, a large emergency team was deployed in the immediate vicinity of the house, including SUC air resources and the GH-1 highway had to be closed to traffic for several hours.

Both victims lived in the village of Arure where the wine cellarhad become a "must-see" for visitors travelling through the municipality of Valle Gran Rey. The winery offered different varieties of bottled wine from the area but the customer service at the store was much more personal, offering the classic guachinche (a typical dish of Gomera cheese), almogrote (a traditional sweet potato dish), and a couple of typical local products, including Gomera cookies.

Valle de Gran Rey has declared three days of mourning. "We are very sad, shocked and deeply affected; these are very complex times, because it is something that logically one does not expect to ever happen," said the mayor of Valle Gran Rey, Borja Barroso