A man travels Madrid's Alcalá street with a bicycle of the public service Bicimad.Mariscal (EFE)
Alberto Díaz García, a 45-year-old firefighter from Madrid, died this morning when he was off duty as a result of a hit-and-run while riding a bicycle through the Moratalaz district, in the southeast of the capital.
The car fled and he was badly injured.
The emergency services treated the man at the scene of the accident and took him to the hospital in serious condition, where he died from the multiple injuries he had suffered, says a spokesman for Samur.
The Municipal Police is in charge of the investigation to clarify what happened and who was driving the car that fatally ran over the firefighter.
From the entire Madrid Fire Department, our deepest condolences to family and friends 🖤 on the death of our colleague, much loved by all.
D.E.P
– Firefighters Madrid (@BomberosMad) July 26, 2022
The victim was a volunteer at a cat rescue association and on Monday night he rented a bike from the Bicimad service because he had received a notice of a feline stuck in a downspout, sources close to the victim indicate.
When he was going to help the cat along Vinateros Avenue, around ten at night, a car hit him and he fled.
Despite the rapid medical attention, the toilets have not been able to save his life and he has died in the La Paz hospital.
The autopsy, which will be carried out in the next few hours, may provide some answers as to how Alberto died and who is responsible.
The statement made by the agents at the scene of the accident will also be essential, since the accident occurred on a main and busy avenue.
The delegate for Security and Emergencies of the Madrid City Council, Inmaculada Sanz, has offered condolences through her Twitter account to the Fire Department and the family of the deceased.
Many other accounts of the city's emergency services have joined the condolences.
Alberto belonged to a volunteer animal rescue group known as Los Cuatro de la Empanadilla, a name they adopted in reference to the net they use to catch cats.
“Yesterday we received a notice of a cat that had fallen down a downspout.
We set off some by car and Alberto in a Bicimad, since he didn't have a car, and he was close to home.
We were all waiting for him but he did not arrive, we called him and a municipal policeman picked up the phone who told us that he had been hit by a car that had fled in Moratalaz ”, his colleagues reported in a Facebook post.
His friends define him as a "fighter for animal rights" who "risked his life to get where others didn't even get and defended his acting in any intervention where a cat was in danger."
The mayor, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, has assured, during the visit to the restoration works of the Puerta de Alcalá, that "everything possible" will be done to locate the "cowardly and miserable" who was driving the vehicle.
"I ask anyone who was in the area, if he saw any details, to speak to the police," he added.
Alberto, 45, has died after being run over in Moratalaz while riding @BiciMAD.
The driver fled the scene.
He was a firefighter and worked in a cat rescue group.
In fact, he was on his way to rescue one who had fallen down a drain.
A tragedy.
D.E.P.
pic.twitter.com/dGhQSuCe7A
– Dani Cabezas (@ danicabezas1) July 26, 2022
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