Police in Spain stopped a man believed to have attempted to amputate his penis and testicles after he was spotted walking along a motorway covered in blood and holding a knife. The 40-year-old Spanish national was rushed to hospital, where his condition was described as serious.
Incident on the A-7
The alarm was raised just before midday, with emergency responders receiving calls from witnesses on the A-7 in the municipality of El Ejido near Almeria in south-east Spain. Motorists reported seeing the man wearing only bloodied underwear and carrying a rucksack, with a knife in his hand.
Police and paramedics assisted the unnamed man at the scene before taking him to the nearby Poniente Hospital. One local report said he was found "with his private parts amputated" in a greenhouse near where he was first spotted walking along the motorway under the rain.
Investigation and background
Detectives believe the man self-harmed during a psychotic episode triggered by drug use. He is understood to be well-known to police, with around 30 previous arrests for different reasons.
The greenhouses in El Ejido form the world's largest concentration of plastic-covered hothouses, sprawling across around 40,000 hectares of the Campo de Dallas coastal plain in Almeria. The vast agricultural hub is often referred to as the 'Sea of Plastic' and is visible even from space.
