SOME 400 parva goldfinches crammed into cages in a van have been rescued by the Policia Nacional in the Orihuela area of Alicante province.

Sadly, 39 of the birds had died during transit.

They were being driven to France where they were going to be sold on the black market.

POLICIA NACIONAL ARRESTS

Two people have been arrested for the illegal trafficking of animals.

The police stumbled on the shipment during a routine early morning checkpoint on one of the roads accessing the Orihuela municipality.

The vehicle made evasive movements when they noticed the police who subsequently pulled them over.

On the back seats were several large cages with wild birds, specifically goldfinches.

Officers then checked the boot and discovered more cages.

Most of the birds were kept in poor conditions with too many per cage which is likely to have resulted in deaths.

They were also with sunflower seeds which are used by poachers to lure them into nets.

Their state suggested that were caught up to a week before.

The occupants gave all kind of reasons for having the birds before admitting that they were captured in the Lorca area of Murcia, and that they were going be sold in France.

Following international and Spanish laws over the protection of parva goldfinches, the men aged 49 and 52 were detained for committing a crime against flora and fauna.

One of them had €1,765 in cash on him which was seized on the basis it may have been garnered from illegal bird sales.

The birds were taken into the care of the Orihuela City Council Animal Protection Centre ahead of a transfer to the Santa Faz Bird Recovery Centre in Alicante.
Click here to read more Crime & Law News from The Olive Press.

TWO workers died in Benidorm on Wednesday morning while they were dismantling scaffolding at the Principality of Europe building on Calle Ibiza.

The scaffolding fell down- fatally burying two victims who hurtled to the ground.

As of 1pm, firefighters were trying to establish that nobody else was affected.

FIREMAN AT SCENE

A third worker managed to cling onto a balcony to avoid falling with his colleagues.

The cause of the accident is not known at this stage.

The work crew had been carrying out energy efficiency improvements linked to the installation of solar panels and a ventilated facade.

Emergency services were called to the scene at around 10.50am.

The workers were removing the scaffolds from the second tower of the 18-floor structure.

EMERGENCY TEAMS, CALLE IBIZA

They began from the top down and were halfway down the wall when the scaffolding gave way,

A SAMU (Emergency Medical Service) unit and a Basic Life Support (BLS) attended the accident scene.

Firefighters worked among the rubble to locate any possible victims, while inspections continued to try to rule out the possibility of anyone else being trapped.

The identities of the two deceased workers have not been revealed.
Click here to read more Benidorm News from The Olive Press.