A 40-year-old man has died after being hit by a car in the Almatriche area of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. The driver has been arrested after allegedly testing positive for alcohol and threatening police officers with a knife while they attempted to detain him.

The collision happened just before 5:00pm yesterday (Thursday) on Almatriche Road. The impact threw the victim onto the road before the car continued forward, crashing into several parked vehicles and also hitting a motorcyclist, who suffered minor injuries.

Emergency services, including three ambulances and Local Police officers, attended the roadside. Traffic was temporarily closed while paramedics treated those involved and officers secured the area.

According to police, the driver resisted arrest and threatened officers with a knife with an eight-centimetre blade, reportedly shouting that he was armed. An officer eventually managed to overpower and arrest him after taking advantage of a momentary distraction.

The Local Police are continuing their investigation to establish the full circumstances surrounding the fatal collision.

Following the incident, the CSIF police union praised the officers involved but renewed calls for frontline officers to be equipped with non-lethal electronic control devices. The union said that while some officers are trained to use them, the devices are currently not available for public patrols, leaving officers to deal with dangerous situations without additional protective equipment.