A 30-year-old man died yesterday morning as he was heading into the tunnel joining Luqa to Kirkop on his way to work.

Steve Buttigieg, 30, was in a Ford Escort van accompanied by work colleague Owen Schembri, 23, both from Birżebbuġa, when he slammed into the tunnel entrance.

Sources said Mr Buttigieg had moved into the outer lane to overtake a car when he hit the centre strip as he was going round a bend, taking the full impact of the crash since it was on his side. As a result, the van came to a halt facing the opposite direction.

The police and an ambulance were quickly at the scene after other drivers called for assistance and found Mr Schembri standing beside the van. He was suffering from shock after managing to pull himself out of the wreckage.

Civil protection rescuers had to be called in to extract Mr Buttigieg from the mangled metal. He was taken to hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries shortly afterwards.

Mr Schembri was also hospitalised and certified to be grievously injured because of facial injuries. As a result of the crash, the busy junction was closed to traffic until an onsite inquiry was carried out by Magistrate Anthony Micallef Trigona, assisted by court traffic expert Simon Micallef Stafrace, among others.