An Irish holidaymaker has died and her daughter has been seriously injured after plunging off rocks in Lanzarote in their hired off-road buggy.
The pair fell around 65 feet after losing control of their vehicle during a tourist excursion.
The older woman, aged 61 and confirmed as Irish by Spanish police, was pronounced dead at the scene.
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The other person, who was travelling on a South African passport, was rushed to Doctor Jose Molina Orosa Hospital in the island capital Arrecife with injuries including head wounds.
She was believed to be in intensive care today although the hospital has not yet made any official comment.
Firefighters, police, Civil Protection workers and paramedics were among the emergency responders who raced to the area around 3.30pm yesterday afternoon.
A helicopter was also sent to the scene although fire crews were finally able to stretcher the survivor, who is understood to be aged in her mid-forties, to a waiting ambulance on foot.
The area where the tragedy occurred is between the whitewashed town of Teseguite and the village of Guatiza, and boasts unique volcanic rock formations which attract visitors from all over the world.
The island’s Civil Guard police force has been placed in charge of an ongoing investigation into the incident.
One local report said police were probing the possibility the buggy driver, thought to be the older of the two women, may have plunged into the abyss after losing control of her vehicle on a bend.
But a spokesman for the Civil Guard in Lanzarote insisted: “It is too early at this stage to speculate on what could have caused the tragedy.
“The investigation is still at a very early stage.”
A Civil Guard source added: “A 61-year-old Irish woman died in the tragedy and her daughter, who was travelling on a South African passport, was seriously injured and was taken to hospital.
“They were travelling on the buggy as part of an organised excursion.”
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