A PSP police commissioner lost his life in a tragic car accident during the weekend before Christmas. The accident occurred at the Lagoa turn off from the Via do Infante (A22). The victim, Commissioner Vítor Oliveira, was travelling from the direction of Portimão in his Mercedes SLK, when his vehicle failed to stop at the first roundabout at the junction, and hit a large ornamental rock, trapping the victim in the badly damaged vehicle.
The crash was so violent that the rock was dragged about one metre by the car. One of youngest commissioners in the country, 30-year-old Commissioner Oliveira was the only occupant of the car. He was rushed to Barlavento Hospital, but died from his horrific injuries.
It has been reported that one possible cause of the accident was that the car was travelling too fast and failed to notice the roundabout in time. It is alleged that the speedometer needle was stuck at approximately 100 km per hour after the crash.
Speaking to the press, Superintendent Jorge Cabrita, the district commandante of the PSP in Faro, said that Vítor Oliveira’s death was “a great loss to the police force” and that the PSP in Faro were now in mourning. The victim was one of the main organisers for the security project in the Algarve during Euro 2004. “He was a dedicated professional,” explained the Superintendent. “He was competent, generous and dedicated to his work. He was a nice and caring person, a good colleague and a friend. In fact, it was hard not to be his friend.”
The Superintendent put forward the possibility that Commissioner Oliveira was responding to a police call-out at the time of the accident, despite it being his day off. “He was always willing to help and always made himself available, normally doing far more than was asked of him.”
Sadly, this is not the first fatal accident to occur at the Lagoa turn off. According to a source from the bombeiros, another person lost their life when their car hit a different ornamental rock at the roundabout.
