Costa del Sol freak accident: car thief runs out of fuel and gets killed by lorry

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The 33-year-old driver of Ecuadorian origin had stolen the car, which stopped in the right lane of the Nerja motorway without hazard lights

Juan Cano

Malaga

Thursday, 16 April 2026, 12:11

The investigation into a fatal road accident that happened on the A-7 motorway in Nerja last Saturday reveals a complex backstory that started a few days earlier in Madrid.

The deceased driver, who ran out of fuel and was run over by a lorry, had allegedly stolen the car involved in the accident in the capital city.

The road accident happened at around 1.30am on 11 April. The car stopped in the middle of the motorway, specifically at kilometre 934 in the direction of Malaga. The car didn't have any hazard warning lights on and a lorry coming behind it was unable to avoid the collision.

The emergency teams that arrived at the scene quickly identified the deceased car driver. He was a 33-year-old man of Ecuadorian origin, who, according to some sources, had left prison in Madrid a few days earlier. He had allegedly stolen the car, which he then used to travel to the Costa del Sol.

The Guardia Civil took charge of the investigation and reconstructed the accident, which is how they found out the car had run out of fuel in the middle of the road.