A transport conveying college trade students over from Spain’s biggest firecrackers celebration smashed on Monday on a highway in the northeast, killing atleast 13 travelers and harming 34 others, official said.
The travelers included Spaniards and outside nationals from around 20 nations, authorities said.
The bus, which was carrying 57 passengers, appeared to have hit a guardrail of the AP7 highway before cartwheeling across the road, slamming through a divider and landing on its side, said Jordi Jane, spokesman for Spain’s northeastern Catalonia province.
The students, part of the Erasmus exchange programme, had travelled to the eastern city of Valencia to take part in the renowned Fallas fireworks festival and were returning when the bus crashed, Jane said. Most were studying at two universities in Barcelona.
The crash took place near Freginals, halfway between Valencia and Barcelona.
Initially, Jane said 14 had died in the crash, but Spanish Interior Minister Jorge Fernandez Diaz later confirmed the death toll was 13. He said 28 passengers received medical treatment in local hospitals and others received first aid at the crash site.
