At least 13 people died and more than 30 were injured in a bus crash near the eastern Spanish city of Tarragona, Spanish officials say.
According to Catalan regional interior department director Jordi Jane, the 13 exchange students killed in the crash were all women from other countries. Seven were from Italy, along with two Germans, an Austrian, one from France, a Romanian, and an Uzbekistani.
According to Catalonia’s health department, 23 passengers and the driver were being treated in the hospital for injuries. One passenger was in critical condition and six people, including the driver, were in serious condition.
Bus crash south of Barcelona kills some 14 people, including students returning from firework display – officials https://t.co/nBfOPEVsgM
— BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) March 20, 2016
The bus is thought to have been carrying 57 people including Erasmus students who had been attending the annual Las Fallas festival in Valencia.
The accident happened around 6 a.m. local time when the bus overturned on the AP-7 highway en-route to Barcelona from Valencia.
The crash happened near Freginals, a town around 95 km (60 miles) south of Tarragona in Spain’s Catalonia region.
More footage from the scene of deadly #Spain bus crash https://t.co/cw9sxUuYfj#Freginals pic.twitter.com/9fvz8Xi6fu
— YouTube Newswire (@ytnewswire) March 20, 2016
A spokesperson for Spain’s northeastern Catalonia province on Sunday said emergency rescue workers were still working to clear the wreckage that straddled the AP-7 highway’s central fence.
Local officials had previously reported 14 dead.
Deadly bus crash in Spain involved university students returning home from a fireworks festival: https://t.co/hdw9apIhj6
— The Associated Press (@AP) March 20, 2016
(Image: TV5)