A tourist visiting the Balearic holiday island of Menorca has died after his car plunged into the sea whilst driving off a ferry. Shocked witnesses said the vehicle “appeared to deviate” and fell off the side of the road by the ferry into the freezing water.

The tragic incident is now under investigation by the police and the port authority, and they will determine why the car failed to stop at the edge of the docks. The man was aged 67, but his nationality has not yet been revealed.

Divers recovered his body from the water and performed resuscitation for more than half an hour, but without success. He was found to be in cardiac arrest and was declared dead at the scene.

At first, there were fears that two other people may have been in the car, but his booking ticket revealed he was the sole occupant.

The tragic accident happened last night in the commercial port of Ciutadella in Menorca when the vehicle fell into the sea a few minutes after disembarking from the Margarita Salas de Baleària ferry.

The event happened around 9pm. The vehicle had left normally from the Margarita Salas, which covers the route between Alcúdia and Barcelona, and the driver was in the queue to leave the port facilities. However, for reasons that are unknown at the moment and are now being investigated, the car deviated from the planned itinerary and ended up falling into the water from the eastern dock of the Son Blanc breakwater.

Several crew members of the ship immediately jumped into the sea to try to help the driver, while the emergency device was activated. However, they were unable to rescue him in time.

At 9.21pm, the SAMU 061 emergency service received the notice of the fall of the vehicle into the water and activated an advanced life support ambulance (known as mobile ICU), another basic life support ambulance and the doctor of the PAC of Ciutadella. The Menorca Firefighters also mobilised and managed to extract the driver from inside the car. They found him already in cardiorespiratory arrest.

Baleària has regretted the fatal accident that has ended the life of this passenger.

Ports de les Illes, the public company that manages the facility, has verified that the ramps between the ship and the dock were in perfect condition. 

 The car was recovered by a crane and is now being examined to determine whether it had any faults or if its brakes had failed.