A 20-year-old driver was killed in a horrific accident as she showed her documents to GNR police on the side of a busy road.
Catarina Batalha was hit with such force by a passing car, between Bucelas and Malveira, near Lisbon, on Saturday that she lost one of her legs and was projected ‘various metres’.
According to Correio da Manhã newspaper, the driver of the Mercedes that hit her was taken to hospital for a blood test to check for alcohol – while the policemen with whom she had been talking only escaped injury by the skin of their teeth.
“The agents were able to jump out of the way in time,” wrote CM.
Catarina had been showing her papers because she herself had gone off the road after what she called “a moment’s lapse in concentration turning on the air conditioning”.
The young cake decorator had refused the GNR’s advice to go to hospital, and was apparently just going through the motions of showing her papers before leaving the scene.
As family and friends were described to be in deep shock over the tragedy, the GNR told CM it will be at least a month before the results of the Mercedes driver’s blood alcohol level are known.
