Two years on from a horrific open-top bus crash that killed two tourists and left 50 others injured, investigators are still waiting for a magisterial inquiry to be concluded before filing charges in court.

A 37-year-old Spanish woman and a 62-year-old Belgian man died instantly when a double decker bus hit a tree with low lying branches and boughs on
Valletta Road, Żurrieq on April 9, 2018.

A further 50 tourists from countries including Britain, Germany and Italy were injured when their trip on the City Sightseeing Malta bus turned into a nightmare.

Police sources said that the investigation into the incident remains open.

People sitting on the top deck were killed or injured when the bus hit a tree. Photo: Jonathan Borg

One officer said that because of the technical nature of this particular case, the police had decided to wait for the outcome of the magisterial inquiry, which will include technical reports by court-appointed experts.

“It is not unusual for us to decide to wait for a magisterial inquiry to be concluded before going ahead with charges. Unfortunately, these inquiries can
take quite a long time,” a source privy to the investigation said.

The magistrate appointed to the case was Monica Vella.

Legal sources close to the case said they had been expecting charges to be filed against either the driver or the sightseeing company by October 2019. However, they had never heard back from the police.

“We are relatively in the dark about this case, we haven’t had any updates,” one lawyer involved said.

A year after the accident a Scottish tourist who was badly hurt in the crash had slammed the complete silence from the Maltese authorities on the case. 

Were you involved in the accident? Contact us to share your story on newsroom@timesofmalta.com