Three people, two women and an elderly man died tragically in different circumstances yesterday.
One of the women, a mother of two, died in a traffic accident near Mġarr, the other was found dead in the sea off Dwejra, Gozo. The man died after he was seriously burnt in a blaze at his home in Sliema.
Anna Vassallo, 47, who was driving a dark green Peugeot 306, had just dropped off her son for an A-level exam and was on her way home to Mġarr when she was involved in a head-on collision with a truck carrying a skip.
The accident took place at 3.45 p.m. on Mġarr Road just 15 minutes before her son’s three-hour pure mathematics exam was scheduled to start.
Stephen Attard, 29, from Birkirkara, was at the wheel of the truck owned by construction company J. Bonavia and Nephews Limited.
The impact tore the engine out of the family saloon and caused the truck to mount the pavement and come to a stop on the boundary wall of a field.
Emergency teams rushed to the site and tried to resuscitate the woman but she had died from her injuries. Mrs Vassallo’s husband and brother arrived on the scene a short time later while her brother-in-law, a priest, prayed over her.
Assistant Police Commissioner Ray Zammit and Police Inspector Edmond Cuschieri were the investigating officers on site while Magistrate Antonio Micallef Trigona is leading an inquiry.
The second fatality was that of a man, aged 72, who died last night when a fire enveloped part of a house in Blanche Street, Sliema, at about 8 pm.
Firemen from the Civil Protection Department rescued the man and a medical team gave emergency assistance on site, but their efforts proved to no avail and the man passed away.
In the late afternoon, news spread that a woman was spotted floating lifeless in the sea close to the Fungus Rock, near the Dwejra window, in Gozo.
Sources said that the woman was reported missing by relatives yesterday.
The police were alerted to the body at about 5 p.m. and an army patrol boat was despatched to retrieve it.
Sources said that investigations led the police to a Hyundai which belonged to the woman.
The car was parked in the area known as L-Għadira ta’ San Raflu, on the limits of Kerċem. The police are investigating.