Spain bus crash: 13 dead and more than 30 injured after coach carrying students crashes on highway

Laura Proto20 March 2016

A bus carrying university students on an Erasmus exchange programme has crashed in Spain, killing at least 13 people and injuring dozens more.

The bus crashed early on Sunday morning on a highway that links Spain with France near Freginals – halfway between Valencia and Barcelona

Spanish officials said more than 50 people were on board the bus, with 13 confirmed dead and another 34 people injured.

The passengers included Spaniards and foreign nationals from more than a dozen countries, authorities said.

Jordi Jane, spokesman for Spain’s north-eastern Catalonia province, initially said 14 people had died in the crash, but Spanish Interior Minister Jorge Fernandez Diaz confirmed the death total was 13.

He said 28 passengers received medical treatment in local hospitals and others received first aid at the crash site.

Scene: The coach carrying dozens of Erasmus students reportedly collided with a car and overturned.
EPA/JAUME SELLART

Mr Jane said the bus appeared to have hit the right-hand side barriers of the AP7 highway before “cartwheeling” across the road and hitting a central fence.

He added the bus driver was being held at a police station in the city or Tortosa.

Emergency rescue workers were still working to clear the wreckage that had closed the major highway.

Road conditions were said to be good at the time of the crash and investigators are looking into the cause of the accident.

Mr Jane added the students, who were part of the Erasmus exchange programme, had travelled to Valencia to take part in the renowned "Fallas" fireworks festival and were returning when the bus crashed.

Emergency services: Firefighters work at the site of a coach crash that has left at least 14 students dead
EPA/JAUME SELLART

The bus was one of five that had travelled to the festival with students, the Catalan government said in a statement.

Most of the students are believed to have been studying at two universities in Barcelona.

Erasmus is the European Commission's educational programme which provides opportunities to study or undertake work placements abroad as part of their degree.

Students from more than 30 countries in Europe, including the UK, can take part in the programme, which lasts for between three to 12 months.

Catalan regional government officials were "contacting consulates from Hungary, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, Czech Republic, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Italy, Peru, Bulgaria, Poland, Ireland, Palestine, Japan and Ukraine," a statement said.

The government declined to say if the consulates listed were linked to those killed or those who travelled in the buses.

Additional reporting by agencies.

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