Turkish woman dies as car crashes into Msida outlet

A woman died early on Wednesday morning after she was hit by a car which afterwards crashed into an Msida outlet, the police said.

The accident took place at 1am in Testaferrata Street.

The victim is a 30-year-old woman from Turkey, who resided in Gzira. She was taken to hospital where she later succumbed to the injuries sustained.

She was identified as Pelin Kaya. It was her 30th birthday yesterday.

The driver of the car, a BMW, is in police custody. He is a 33-year-old man who resides in Lija. He was later identified as Jeremie Camilleri (right), a FrancoMaltese national, already on probation for theft.

The man lost control of the car he was driving and crashed into the KFC establishment, which is situated next to a petrol station. The outlet and the petrol station were also damaged in the accident.

The police said that soon after the accident the driver of the car became aggressive towards people who were in the vicinity and tried to offer help, as well as with the police. Video footage taken from a CCTV camera shows the car crashing into the restaurant. Seconds later, Camilleri is seen abandoning the BMW and walking to the other side of the road.

The man, the police said, threatened the officers and began to throw stones in their direction.

The officers ordered the man to remove the stones he was holding, an order which the man did not obey, the police said. A taser was used to control Camilleri and he was later arrested.

The man was taken to hospital for treatment too, the police said. Sources said that after being taken to hospital, the man was found to have had a high level of cocaine.

Camilleri, who was born in the French city of Toulouse but now lives in Lija, had been placed on probation after admitting to two petty thefts in which health supplements worth a total of €92 were stolen from Attard and Sliema on 2 January, 2023.

But he had also breached the conditions of a probation order that had been issued to him upon his conviction for another offence by a court in Gozo back in February 2021.

Magistrate Nadine Lia is leading an inquiry into yesterday’s traffic fatality. The Turkish woman is the second victim of a traffic accident this year. Last year, 26 people died in traffic accidents, one every two weeks.