Latest: Two Irish injured after bus crashes in Spain
Three UCC students were among those present in a serious bus crash in Spain today.
BREAKING: Three @UCC students have cheated death in the Spain bus crash which claimed at least 14 lives #Cork pic.twitter.com/zAD6nT1IU2
— Eoin English (@EoinBearla) March 20, 2016
A bus carrying university students back from Spain's largest fireworks festival has crashed on a main highway in north-eastern Spain, killing 13 passengers and injuring 30 others, including two Irish people.
The injuries to the Irish pair are not thought to be life-threatening.
Initially, regional government spokesman Jordi Jane said 14 had died in the crash but Interior Minister Jorge Fernandez Diaz later confirmed the death toll was 13.
Anyone with concerns re Irish citizens who may have been affected should contact @dfatravel on 014082000 or @CRE_Emergencias on +34900400012
— Ireland Embassy Madrid (@IrlEmbMadrid) March 20, 2016
He said 28 passengers received medical treatment in local hospitals and others received first aid at the crash site.
The bus, which was carrying 57 passengers, appeared to have hit the right-hand side barriers of the AP7 highway before cartwheeling across the road and slamming into the central fence, landing on its side, said Mr Jane, spokesman for Spain's north-eastern Catalonia province.
Emergency services at the scene of a bus crash in Spain where 14 people were killed https://t.co/dRP69qcuHphttps://t.co/ruyABSgDi4
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) March 20, 2016
Television images from state broadcaster TVE showed the bus also crashed into an oncoming car on the opposite side of the highway.
The bus driver was being held at a police station in the city of Tortosa, Mr Jane said.
Road conditions were good at the time of the crash and investigators were looking into the cause of the accident, he said.
Fernandez Diaz said the driver passed alcohol and drug tests he was given.
Mr Jane said emergency rescue workers were working to clear the wreckage that had closed the major highway linking Spain with France along the Mediterranean coast in both directions.
The crash took place near Freginals, halfway between Valencia and Barcelona.
Mr Jane said the students - 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.
The minister said students were of several nationalities, including Spanish. Mr Jane said most were studying at two universities in Barcelona.
The Erasmus programme provides foreign exchange courses for students from countries within the 28-nation European Union and enables them to attend many of the continent's best universities.
The Fallas festival is held each year in eastern Valencia on the feast day of St. Joseph and draws thousands of tourists from across the world.
Large wooden monuments and effigies representing famous people often in humorous postures that local workshops take a year to build are burned in a colourful ceremony accompanied by a barrage of very noisy fireworks.
Two Irish people have received non-life threatening injuries in this morning's bus crash in Spain.
The Department of Foreign Affairs is standing by to provide consular assistance.
Local media is reporting that those on board were from Ireland, Britain, Switzerland, Norway, Turkey, Ukraine and Barcelona.
A bus carrying university students back from a fireworks festival has crashed in north-east Spain, killing 14 passengers and injuring 30 of its more than 50 occupants.
Jordi Jane, a spokesman for the Catalonia province, said emergency rescue workers were still working to clear the wreckage that straddled the AP7 highway's central fence.
Embassy is aware of this morning's tragic bus accident in #Tarragona. Nationalities of the victims have yet to be confirmed.
— Ireland Embassy Madrid (@IrlEmbMadrid) March 20, 2016
A regional government statement said the bus crashed early on Sunday on the highway that links Spain with France along the Mediterranean coast near Freginals, halfway between Valencia and Barcelona.
Mr Jane said the students - 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.
