A 58-year-old British woman has died after plummeting off a steep hillside into a barranco whilst riding an electric scooter in Benidorm. The accident, which happened on Tuesday afternoon at 4.15pm, saw the as yet unidentified woman take a sudden turn towards the edge of the cliff before going over the edge and plummeting down the rocky hillside.
Firefighters rushed to the scene in the Paraje de la Cruz de Benidorm, which is located in the Natural Park of Serra Gelada, and tried for two hours to rescue her in the difficult to access terrain.
When they eventually managed to reach her, they found that she was not breathing, and attempted to resuscitate her at the scene, but were unsuccessful.
Police have opened an investigation into the cause of the accident and are inspecting the motorised scooter, which she had rented, to see if it complied with all the legal safety requirements.
The tragic incident comes two years after Benidorm implemented a ban on the use of mobility scooters, electric scooters and Segways on pavements after an outcry from irritated locals. Councillors voted unanimously to approve laws that imposed a 12mph speed limit on the vehicles, with 500-euro fines for offenders.
In Benidorm, riders also need insurance, are supposed to wear helmets and must ride scooters fitted with a bell or horn to alert pedestrians to their presence.
New regulations further stipulate that only those aged over 55, or with proof of an accepted medical condition, can rent mobility scooters after British tourists were accused of abusing them.
