14 killed as student coach veers across main road and crashes in Spain

At least 14 people were killed when a bus carrying foreign students veered out of control and crashed in Spain. Dozens more were injured in the accident on the AP7 highway near Freginals this morning. The coach “hit the railing on the right and swerved to the left so violently that the bus veered on to the other side of the highway,” said Jordi Jane, the Catalonia interior minister. The injured, aged between 22 and 29, were from Britain, Switzerland, Norway, Turkey, Ukraine and Barcelona. The students were on an Erasmus exchange visit and were studying at two universities in Barcelona.

We are shocked. We know that victims are very young and today is a very sad day. It’s a completely chilling sight to see what happened here.

Josep Roncero, mayor of the nearby town of Freginals

The coach was said to have hit a crash barrier then swerved across the road into a car coming in the opposite direction. Road conditions were good at the time of the crash and investigators were looking at how the driver could have lost control. Thirty people – including four who were seriously hurt - were taken to hospital after the crash which happened about halfway between Valencia and Barcelona. Two of the injured people were in the car.

All of a sudden, he stopped seeing it in his rear-view mirror. He stopped at the next service area, called the driver but he didn’t pick up

Son of the driver of the coach in front of the one which crashed