Almendrón and tanker truck collision leaves shocking images

The crash of aalmond” and a tanker truck that occurred this Tuesday in Havana left shocking images and several injured people who required specialized medical attention.

The events took place in the La Lisa municipality, near the area known as Novia del Mediodía, in front of the Mariposa Hotel, on the highway from Havana to San Antonio de los Baños.

“This was in the afternoon, in front of the Mariposa Hotel,” indicated a user from the group of Facebook 'Bus & Truck Accidents', sharing images of the vehicles after the accident.

The worst injured turned out to be the American-made car from the 1950s, known in Cuba as “almendrones,” whose body was completely deformed by the impact.

According to comments from people who said in the publication that they had witnessed the accident, the driver had to be taken to the hospital in serious condition.

“The driver of the almendrón was wrong, the one who was next to him nothing happened to him. My brother passed by and the boy was there. Nothing happened to the one with the pipe either,” said one Internet user.

According to his story, the accident was caused by the driver of “a Yutong bus who put his foot in [carried out a dangerous maneuver] to the driver of the bus who, trying to avoid another car, caught the almendrón.”

Images shared in the publication showed that the tanker ended up stuck against what appears to be the perimeter wall of the Mariposa Hotel.

“Luckily there were no deaths, but a man who was passing by was hit by the pipe and ended up with serious injuries to his legs. It was the most damaged,” another user noted in the comments.

The years of exploitation of almendrones, added to the lack of maintenance, repairs and spare parts that affect these classic vehicles, make them common protagonists of accidents that occur in Cuba.

In recent days, an almendrón suffered an accident while crossing a bridge on the National Highway of Cuba. Apparently, a speed bump at the entrance to the bridge caused him to leave the road and fall down the road divider. The condition of the vehicle's occupants is unknown, and they had to be taken to the hospital.

At the end of April, the driver of an almendrón was unharmed after it hit a public lighting pole on the corner of Arbol Seco Street and the popular Carlos III Avenue in Havana.

Days before, a modern pick-up crashed into an almond tree on the corner of 19th and M in El Vedado, Havana, causing severe damage to the American car from the 1950s.