Tractor smashes into country cottage
A TRACTOR crashing into a house off the Parcent-Benigembla road left two men seriously injured, emergency services reported on Friday.
The previous afternoon, they had to lift the victims out of the abandoned cottage through a tangled mess of stone wall and asbestos after their vehicle smashed through the low roof.
They had been flung clear of the tractor, which collided with the outer wall.
According to firefighters and police, who had to cut through the asbestos tiles to free the two wounded farmers who ended up inside the property, the vehicle had suddenly started careering downhill out of control, gathering speed.
It is believed its brakes failed. The farm workers were rushed to Denia hospital, and the tractor was extracted with ropes.
More hikers had to be rescued from ‘Hell's Ravine’ on Friday, totalling three interventions in as many weeks. This time, they were uninjured, but had become trapped on the edge of a sheer drop.
A fire brigade helicopter was summoned at around 14.30 to the deep gorge between the Vall d’Ebo and Vall de Laguar known as the Barranco del Infierno and picked up the two walkers. They had found them teetering on top of a cliff some 60 metres above the riverbed. Both were flown to terra firma, unhurt, and drove home.
Just three weeks ago, a walker was airlifted to safety from the same site after becoming lost and spending over an hour trying to find the footpath, with a broken foot.