Dylan Wagemans
The director of the Madrid police department has been suspended after the car he was travelling in hit a 10-year-old girl, when all traffic lights were out during the nationwide blackout.
Great controversy has been surrounding the case, since no reports have been found of the accident, not from the emergency services, nor from the police department itself.
Additionally, an investigation should have been carried out by a special accident team, which took place four days after the incident, only after El Pais reported on it.
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The accident happened an hour after the start of the nationwide blackout, when the girl – who was accompanied by her mother – was hit by an unmarked police car.
Inside, the director general of the Madrid police department, Pablo Enrique Rodriguez and an inspector who Rodriguez trusts to act as a driver for him.
With all traffic lights turned off, both cars and pedestrians tried to do the best they could to navigate the busy streets of Madrid.
The girl and her mother were crossing the busy street when the unmarked car approached rapidly, driving too fast according to some witnesses.
The girl fell to the ground, screaming erupted and an ambulance had to come by to transport the injured girl to the hospital, accompanied by her mother.
In the end, the girl suffered a broken ankle and bruised knee, with a possible fracture.
More than a week after the incident, neither the city council, nor Rodriguez have contacted the family about it.
The mayor of Madrid even said that the communications about the incident are kept to a bare minimum to ‘protect’ Rodriguez, the spokeswoman for the city council told El Pais.
The parents of the girl might report the facts, which might have criminal consequences for the driver.
