Salsa dancing champion killed in Spanish car crash

by Gareth Davies

gareth.davies@essnmedia.co.uk

A national salsa champion who taught classes in Croydon has been killed in a horrific car crash in Spain.

Lee Wright died in the collision involving three vehicles in Malaga in the early hours of yesterday (Sunday) morning – two days after his 24th birthday.

It is believed that at 2.20am Mr Wright and another British man were travelling to their hotel in the tourist resort when another vehicle hit the back of their car sending them crashing into a car in front of theirs.

Mr Wright, who was sitting in the back seat, was killed instantly, while the other British man was seriously injured,

The driver of the other vehicle escaped with minor injuries but a female passenger, believed to be his wife, was killed.

Two other people were also injured in the crash.

Mr Wright was a popular figure on Croydon's dance scene and had been a salsa instructor at the Crobar before the venue shut down earlier this year.

In 2007, he and dance partner Shelley Cook were the UK National Professional Champions.

The pair also experienced success on the continent after winning a silver medal at the European Salsa Masters Championships in 2006.

Internet groups have been set up to pay tribute to the dance instructor, who had flown to Spain to celebrate his birthday.

One friend, Robert Saunders, wrote on the Facebook tribute site: "Such a happy, genuine, lovely person, such a loss.

"I can still picture him when he was just getting into salsa, happy, enthusiastic and full of fun.

"It was obvious he was going to become a good dancer, but more than that it was immediately clear what a great person he was."

Another poster, Fintan Lawler, described Mr Wright as having an "infectious" personality.

He said: "Words seem so inadequate at a time like this to express the shock and sadness at such a tragic loss.

"Lee was a truly fantastic person, his love of life, fun and dance was infectious and his teaching was inspirational."