UCC students survive fatal bus crash in Spain
University College Cork confirmed that three of its students, who were studying in Barcelona University as part of the Erasmus student exchange programme, were among 57 people caught up in the crash in northeastern Spain in the early hours of yesterday morning.
Two of the Irish students were uninjured. One suffered minor injuries. Eight people were seriously injured.
“The UCC International Education office has been in touch with the students’ families to offer support,” a spokesperson for UCC said.
The Department of Foreign Affairs said the Irish embassy in Madrid is also poised to provide consular assistance.
Reports from Spain said that the 57 people on board the bus were students on the Erasmus programme who were returning to Barcelona after a trip to the last weekend of Vallas festival in Valencia, which is renowned for its large fireworks displays.
Originally it was believed that 14 died when the bus crashed on a motorway near Freginals, north of Valencia and some 150km south of Barcelona, in the Catalonia region at around 6am local time yesterday. The death toll was later revised to 13.
The vehicle appeared to have clipped a roadside barrier, careered onto the other side of the road, and struck a car travelling in the opposite direction, injuring two people inside, before coming to a rest on its side.
UCC confirms that 3 of its students were on the bus that crashed in Spain. 1 suffered minor injuries. More: https://t.co/ErdpROCii2
— UCC Ireland (@UCC) March 20, 2016
In a statement, Catalonia’s emergency services said passengers included students from Hungary, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, Czech Republic, New Zealand, Great Britain, Italy, Peru, Bulgaria, Poland, Ireland, Palestine, Japan, Ukraine, Holland, France, and Finland.
Most of those who died are understood to be aged between 22 and 29.
There were no details on the nationalities of the injured, but eight were said to have been seriously injured, and all were being treated in hospital.
The cause of the accident is still under investigation, but Jordi Jane, Catalonia’s regional interior minister, said the coach had “hit the railing on the right and swerved to the left so violently that the bus veered onto the other side of the highway”.
The driver of the bus, who survived the collision, had tested negative for alcohol and drugs and was taken to a local police station, Spanish media reported.
World: 9
