TORTOSA: Thirteen students were killed and dozens more injured in Spain Sunday when the driver of their coach lost control and crashed into an oncoming car as they returned from a festival.
The bus was carrying students aged between 20 and 32 — many on a European exchange programme in the northeastern region of Catalonia — from some 20 countries including Britain, the Netherlands, Ukraine, Switzerland, Norway and Sweden but also Japan and Peru.
Six of the more than 30 injured were in a critical condition in hospital.
All the fatalities were female, according to Jordi Jane, who heads up interior matters for Catalonia, but authorities have yet to announce their nationalities.
A spokeswoman for the Italian foreign ministry, however, said there may be Italian nationals among the victims.
“We fear there may be seven Italians among the dead. We are not sure as identification procedures are still ongoing,” she said.
It was unclear whether Spanish nationals were among the passengers. The accident occurred just before 6 am (0500 GMT) near the small town of Freginals, about 150 kilometres (95 miles) south of Barcelona as the students were returning from the Fallas festival in eastern Valencia known for the burning of giant statues.
