FLASH FLOOD

Within seconds, the car carrying four Dutch tourists was swept down the hillside by the raging waters

- Simon Hemelryk

Marjon van Eijk was incredibly excited. The 57-year-old from Oss in the Netherlands had just landed on the Spanish island of Mallorca with her family for the dream wedding of her daughter Iris. She knew it was going to be very special.

The intimate ceremony with just 21 guests was happening the next day, 10 October 2018, at a stunning villa up in the hills near the picturesque town of Sant Llorenç des Cardassar, just under an hour’s drive from the airport. “I can’t wait for the barbecue tonight, never mind the wedding,” Marjon told her mother, Bets.

Bets was a sharp, warm-hearted 84-year-old, but she wasn’t in the best of health. A year earlier, she’d had to have emergency surgery on a perforated intestine and now wore a colostomy bag. Hip problems meant she had to walk with crutches. But she was thrilled to be attending her 24-year-old granddaughter Iris's wedding in such an amazing setting. The family had brought along a nurse, Marjon Theunissen, to help her.

The three women and Marjon van Eijk’s husband, Pieterjan, walked out of the airport at around 6 p.m. and into a rental car. Iris and her fiancé, Coen, were waiting at the beautiful property up in the hills, thrilled at the prospect of sharing such a magical event with the ones they loved.