Police in Marbella are still trying to determine who was driving the Audi which ploughed through several pedestrians in the resort town.
Terrifying footage showed holidaymakers screaming as a man, said to be ‘high on cocaine’, injured a seven-week-old baby and at least five others in Puerto Banus.
Pictures of the smashed up vehicle showed the driver and passenger had left sachets of Kamagra oral jelly – a cheap alternative to Viagra – on a floor mat under the steering wheel.
Authorities were this morning working on the assumption Briton Marcus Stewart was driving the black Audi Q7, while a man called Liam Anthony O’Neill was the passenger.
Police in Marbella are still trying to determine who was driving the Audi which ploughed through several pedestrians in the resort town of Puerto Banus
The smashed-up Audi Q7 was taken to the police station in Marbella where the British suspects were being quizzed today before being removed from public view
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But after questioning witnesses, investigators believe Marcus may have been the passenger – and the officers who chased the vehicle may have made a mistake because the car was a UK-plated right-hand-drive.
The wrecked vehicle was taken to the police station in Marbella where the two suspects were being quizzed today before it was removed from public view.
Both men tested positive for drink and drugs. One tested positive for cocaine and the other for cannabis.
Pictures from inside the car showed British sterling coins and a pair of sunglasses near the remains of the airbag.
Six people were taken to hospital and the driver was arrested after crashing into vehicles having led police on a wild chase on the wrong side of the road.
Earlier, terrifying footage emerged of holiday makers screaming as a British driver ploughed through pedestrians while ‘high on cocaine’, injuring a seven-week-old baby and at least five others.
Initial fears the incident on the Golden Mile was terrorism-related were ruled out by police, who initially said the driver was drunk as he ploughed into other vehicles, pictured, on a police chase
Local social media sites carried pictures of an injured man in shorts lying on the ground
The shocking clip of the incident captures the 4×4 mowing down and injuring, with some suggesting it was driven deliberately into them.
Well-placed sources close to the investigation said the unnamed suspect, aged 27, failed a drugs test after police initially said he had appeared drunk after being stopped by officers.
In the video footage, one woman overlooking the scene shouts out, ‘Get away’, in English after the car appears to smash into another vehicle on a roundabout.
It is then seen mounting the pavement for a second time and being driven recklessly at speed.
Another Brit can be heard yelling ‘get him’ and ‘get away’ as the vehicle comes back into shot on a video filmed using a mobile phone.
It shows a bare-chested man in shorts who appears to be injured and is on his knees in a flower bed.
The car being driven on the pavement as it mowed down pedestrians in Puerto Banus
A man in a blue T-shirt – who looks to have been a passenger in the Audi – seems to get out of the vehicle and slams the door shut before disappearing.
The car then speeds away as the first sirens near – leading police on a spectacular chase which ended when it smashed into several vehicles on the wrong side of the road nearby Marbella’s famous Golden Mile.
The Brit driver, in his late 20s, was arrested at the scene as well as the passenger.
The unnamed driver is believed to have been asked to leave the nearby Ocean Club – which was hosting its annual champagne party – after a fight.
The Audi screeching around the corner before appearing to deliberately ploughing into pedestrians
Police are now investigating whether he deliberately mounted the pavement and drove down a pedestrian area leading to the club, mowing down people in his path – including the seven-week-old baby.
Officers confirmed they have arrested two Brits over last night’s horrific scenes.
The driver was initially described as a 22-year-old, although sources close to the investigation said today he was born in 1990 making him 26 or 27 years old.
The well-informed source said: ‘A passenger in the car has also been arrested.
‘He is being held at a police station in Marbella near Puerto Banus in connection with last night’s incidents.
‘The driver is at Marbella’s Costa del Sol Hospital. Both men are British.’
Sources said today after tests that although the driver had been drinking and was officially just over the Spanish drink-drive limit – which is half the UK limit – the amount of alcohol he had in his body would not normally have resulted in prosecution.
The source said: ‘He was strictly speaking just a fraction over the drink-drive limit but within the band which could have been attributed to problems with the breathalyser.
‘A police officer might have reported him if he had been breathalysed at a routine stop under normal circumstances but usually he would have been allowed to continue.
‘What he tested positive for was drugs, cocaine in this instance. The man believed to be a passenger in the car tested positive for cannabis.’
Six people were taken to hospital after the horror incident in Marbella on Sunday night
Witnesses have told police the Audi SQ7 he was driving was driven deliberately at high speed at pedestrians in an area off-limits to cars which runs from a roundabout down to steps overlooking the Mediterranean and the entrance to the Ocean Club
The vehicle was left a write-off after a high-speed police chase which ended with the black Audi invading the wrong carriageway on the nearby Golden Mile dual-carriageway running between Marbella and Puerto Banus before hitting several cars including one in which three people including a young baby were injured
The passenger in the car was born in 1989, making him 27 or 28. It is not known if they were on holiday in the area or live in Spain.
The two men are expected to be hauled before an investigating judge tomorrow.
Although they will not face immediate charges, the driver at least may be told he is being investigated on suspicion of attempted murder if police feel there is evidence pointing to him trying to deliberate harm his alleged victims.
The vehicle was left a write-off after a high-speed police chase which ended with the black Audi invading the wrong carriageway on the nearby Golden Mile dual-carriageway running between Marbella and Puerto Banus before hitting several cars including one in which three people including a young baby were injured.
The incident happened just after 9pm last night as revellers were leaving the Ocean Club on one of its busiest days of the year.
Six people are understood to have been transferred to Marbella’s Costa del Sol hospital – one with a broken leg and another with a possible fractured pelvis.
A third person arrived unconscious and was last night undergoing tests.
The other three people, who are not described as seriously injured, were a 38-year-old man, a 35-year-old and a baby believed to be just weeks old.
They are thought to be members of the same family and were travelling in the car hit by the Audi on the Golden Mile.
There was carnage on the streets of Marbella after the car struck several pedestrians
Police are now investigating whether the driver deliberately mounted the pavement and drove down a pedestrian area
Initial fears the incident on the stretch of road known as the Golden Mile was terror-related were ruled out by police who said the driver had been drunk.
The incident happened around 9pm on Sunday as revellers were leaving the popular venue after its annual champagne party, which attracts celebrities and international footballers.
One eyewitness said they thought it was ‘a terrorist attack at first’, while another British witness told The Sun: ‘I was lying in the middle of the ground. I thought I was going to die.
‘I saw two people get hit and heard at least another six hit. It came out of nowhere.’
Six people were taken to the nearby Costa del Sol Hospital.
One was being operated for a broken leg, another is believed to have suffered a possible fractured pelvis and a third arrived unconscious and is undergoing tests.
All are thought to be pedestrians who were mown down near the Ocean Club. Their nationalities have not yet been revealed.
The other three people, who are not described as seriously injured, are a 38-year-old man, a 35-year-old and a baby.
They are believed to have been travelling in one of the cars hit by the Audi Q7 after the British driver fled the original accident scene.
The driver then crashed into several cars by Marbella’s Coral Beach area on the Golden Mile moments after leaving the scene at high-speed.
Several pedestrians were injured after being hit by the car which mounted the pavement near Puerto Banus’s Ocean Club
Traffic police closed the road so they could help paramedics attend to the injured and remove the damaged vehicles.
Local social media sites carried pictures of an injured man in shorts lying on the ground, with one social media user commenting: ‘A car has just sped along the seafront by the Ocean Club in Puerto Banus and has run over a lot of people.
‘The car has fled the scene.’
A spokesman for the Ocean Club, where most revellers are British, said they were not aware of the incident and it hadn’t happened inside the club.
A nearby worker said: ‘I’ve heard the man they’ve arrested got into a row over a girl and may have driven deliberately at the pedestrians that were injured.’
The black Audi the detainee was driving was a write-off.
It was not clear last night if Spanish police were still hunting anyone else in connection with the incident, although it was initially believed several men had been spotted running from the Audi after it crashed.
Police have closed off part of nearby Marbella’s Golden Mile where the hit-and-run driver crashed near a five-star hotel
Marbella mayor Jose Bernal insisted today the Costa del Sol resort, which includes the Puerto Banus area, was a safe place as he described the response from the emergency services as an example of ‘perfect coordination.’
He also confirmed two Brits had been arrested at a lunchtime press conference with local police chief Javier Martin, saying both had failed drink and 카마그라구매 drugs tests and one of the men lived in the area.
The two suspects were being held at a police station in the town today ahead of a court appearance expected to take place later in the week.
Shocking social media pictures show medics desperately trying to help people at the scene
Although he didn’t name the Ocean Club, Mr Bernal said: ‘An altercation in a beach club in Puerto Banus sparked the incident.
‘The two people who had a bit of a fight left and got into a car and began to drive in the way they did.
‘The response of the Guardia Civil was immediate. An undercover car pursued the Audi Q7 the Brits were in and this car ended up hitting five more cars which was the end of the pursuit.’
There seems to be some confusion as to the exact ages of the Brits detained, but the mayor added: ‘Eight people were injured, six of whom have already been discharged from hospital.
‘One man who has had an operation on his broken leg is still in hospital and a woman remains under observation.
‘The detainees are two Brits aged 28 and 29. One of them lives in the municipality of Marbella.
‘They are yet to be taken to court, in part because one of them was in hospital until a short while ago.
‘They tested positive for alcohol and drugs.
He insisted: ‘Marbella is a safe place and when isolated incidents like this occur, the emergency services and forces of law and order have shown they act immediately and efficiently.
‘What happened yesterday was basically two drunks on drugs who had a fight in a club and got in a car and ended up running over three people in their madness who thankfully survived.
‘It’s an exceptional occurrence in Marbella which should make us feel proud of the security we have here.’