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14 killed as bus carrying foreign students crashes in Spain

Of the 43 injured, 30 have been rushed to hospital

Afp March 20, 2016

Emergency personnel work on the AP-7 motorway near Freginals, south of Tarragona in northeast Spain following a fatal bus accident early on March 20, 2016 PHOTO: AFP

BARCELONA: Fourteen people were killed and 43 injured on Sunday when a bus carrying foreign students crashed in northeastern Spain, regional authorities in Catalonia said.

The students were enrolled at Barcelona University as part of the European Erasmus exchange programme, said Jordi Jane who heads interior matters for the Catalonia region.

The accident occurred near the small town of Freginals, about 150 kilometres (95 miles) south of Barcelona as the bus was returning from a traditional festival in the eastern city of Valencia.

Emergency services at the scene of a bus crash in Spain where 14 people were killed https://t.co/dRP69qcuHp https://t.co/ruyABSgDi4
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The driver "hit the railing on the right and swerved to the left so violently that the bus veered onto the other side of the highway," Jane said.

The bus then hit a vehicle coming in the opposite direction, injuring two people inside, he added.

The bus was carrying 57 people in all, including the driver.
Of the 43 injured, 30 have been rushed to hospital, Jane said.