A TV reporter and cameraman were struck by an out-of-control SUV during a live broadcast in Monterrey, Mexico, after a vehicle skidded across a rain-soaked road towards them.
Alma de la Rosa Flores was reporting for Gamavisión Noticias beside Morones Prieto Avenue in Nuevo León on Friday morning when the crash happened. She and cameraman Cristo Martínez had been covering the dangers posed by the road after a landslide.
The crew had also been reporting on an earlier accident involving a motorcyclist who had collided with a tree in the Nuevo Repueblo neighbourhood following heavy rain.
Live footage showed Flores standing beside a fallen tree as traffic passed close by. A dark-coloured Jeep then appeared behind her, veered towards the roadside and began to skid and rotate in the direction of the journalists.
Flores turned as the vehicle approached and attempted to push it away with her hands. The impact brought the broadcast to an abrupt end.
Both journalists survived and were taken from the scene by ambulance. Martínez suffered injuries to his ankle and arm, while Flores was able to climb into the ambulance under her own power.
The veteran reporter, who has worked in journalism for 35 years, said she had suffered multiple blows. She remained conscious and later thanked fellow journalists and former colleagues for their messages of support.
The Jeep’s driver stayed at the scene while police tried to establish how the collision occurred. Morones Prieto Avenue is one of Monterrey’s busiest roads and has been the site of numerous serious traffic accidents.
Footage of the incident was widely shared on social media, prompting disbelief from viewers.
“Wow, I’m surprised they’ve survived. Hope they recover,” one viewer wrote.
Another questioned why the reporter had been sent to “the middle of a busy road”, while a third joked that Flores had avoided disaster by stopping the car with her hands.
