Police arrested the driver of a bowser, hours after a hit-and-run accident in Msida left an elderly woman dead yesterday morning.
Maria Mackay, 75, from Msida was crossing Valley Road at the traffic lights when she was run over by the heavy vehicle moving in the direction of Msida from Birkirkara at 10.45am.
The man, in his early 50s, was still being questioned by police until last night. Sources said the driver was insisting he did not realise he had run over a woman, but police are believed to be pursuing the line that he fled the scene. The driver is expected to be arraigned shortly.
I cannot understand how he could not possibly have seen her... my motheris well-built
The victim’s slippers were found in the middle of the zebra crossing in the area known as L-Għajn tal-Ħasselin. On impact, her body was hurled some 10 metres away.
Neighbours told The Sunday Times of Malta they did not hear any noise when the impact took place.
“There was no screaming, no screeching of brakes, no sound of the pound of impact – nothing,” said one neighbour, in tears.
A doctor who happened to be driving by stopped to give assistance and police arrived on scene within minutes. However, Ms Mackay was certified dead on the spot.
The cries of shock came from a woman who was crossing the road from the opposite direction and witnessed the accident.
Neighbours said the woman was suffering from shock. Another neighbour sitting sobbing on her doorstep, said she could not erase the image of the badly mangled corpse from her mind.
Ms Mackay lived with her husband and son, a few blocks away from the accident. Her son was alerted by neighbours and arrived on the scene a few minutes after the accident.
In shock, he was still coming to terms with the fact that the perpetrator of the accident had kept on driving.
“I cannot understand how he could not possibly have seen her... my mother is well-built,” he said. He believed his mother had been crossing the road to pick up shirts from the laundry shop.
All the neighbours described Ms Mackay as “very jolly”, “always laughing and making everyone laugh”, and always willing to drop by their houses for a chat.
“The family’s nickname is Tax-Xalatur – they are all amiable in that family, they know how to have a good time,” said another tearful neighbour.
Neighbours were upset that the driver of the large truck kept on driving after the accident.
Police arrested the driver at 11.30am after an ongoing search carried out via check points across the island.
At around noon the mobile squad police located a parked red drainage bowser, belonging to ‘Spiteri Drainage Bowser’ at the Water Services pumping station in Gżira.
Forensic experts were immediately called in to examine the front part of the vehicle which was stained with blood. Police also interrogated people at the pumping plant.
Magistrate Franco Depasquale is holding an inquiry and has appointed a number of experts to assist him.