Child’s death brings traffic death toll to 16
Her parents were both killed outright on Christmas night when their car was involved in one of the worst accidents of the holidays, but now the little five-year-old rushed to hospital in a critical condition has died.
This brings the death toll for the absurdly-dubbed “Festas Seguras (Safe Holidays)” traffic campaign to a tragic 16.
And as newspapers picked up the details of this latest update, we learn that the child’s mother Maria Antónia Sousa, 47, was a journalist with Público newspaper, writing under her maiden name of Ascensão.
The accident that claimed the lives of the family, along with that of another driver, was caused by a loose horse in the middle of the road, just outside Évora.
Jornal de Notícas reports that the owner of the horse could well face charges of homicide through negligence but, for the time being at least, authorities have been unable to discover who owned the horse, which was also killed in pile-up.
Meantime, four others seriously injured in the accident – including another child – are still being treated in hospital. The second child is not related to the family that lost their lives.
