Woman recovers in hospital after holiday attack

Jun 3 2008 by Neil Mckay, The Journal

A YOUNG North East woman is recovering in hospital after she was discovered suffering from horrific injuries, naked and covered in blood on the steps of a Spanish apartment building.

The woman, 21, had been stabbed twice in the back and once in the chest during the savage attack in Magaluf on the holiday island of Majorca.

Spanish police have now launched a major inquiry and are treating the incident as attempted murder.

She was taken from outside an apartment building at the centre of the popular resort to hospital in Palma, the capital of Majorca, where she was treated for her injuries, which included a punctured lung. The Foreign Office said it was aware of the incident and its consulate was offering support to her family, but was unable to release any further details. The woman was found at about 5.30am on Friday.

Detectives from the Spanish Civil Guard are treating the incident as attempted murder and are now hunting for two British men, aged 20 and 21.

An officer at the Civil Guard headquarters in Madrid said: “It is believed that there was an argument between the two men being sought and the victim, but we cannot say more at the moment.

“This young woman received three stab wounds, two in the back and one in the chest. She was taken to hospital but we understand that her life is not in danger.”

Magaluf has gained a rowdy reputation in recent years. According to reports in Majorca, the victim works in Magaluf and, having apparently finished a late shift at 4am, made her way alone home to an apartment she shares with another British couple.

Her attacker or attackers were apparently waiting outside the apartment for her and assaulted her at knifepoint before stabbing her and leaving her for dead.