Forty injured in a coach accident carrying seasonal workers in Lleida
The vehicle has crashed against the facade of a building on Ferran street shortly after leaving the station
BarcelonaAbout forty people were injured this Wednesday morning, four of them in critical condition and nine in less serious condition, in a coach accident in Lleida. The incident occurred when the vehicle collided with the facade of a building on Rambla Ferran, leaving at least 33 slightly injured.
The coach, which covered the route between Lleida and La Granja d'Escarp and was carrying mostly seasonal workers, had just left the bus station in the capital of Segrià, around a quarter past seven in the morning, when the accident occurred. "Suddenly it turned to the right and we crashed into a pillar in front of the Diputació," explained Dani, one of the passengers, to El matí de Catalunya Ràdio.
Many of the travelers were heading towards Baix Segre to work in the fruit harvest and the vehicle's driver had only recently started and was accompanied by another more veteran driver, according to sources consulted by ARA. The same sources indicate that this second driver was one of the most seriously injured.
The Firefighters have clarified that it is still too early to point to the cause of the accident, but they have indicated that everything seems to suggest that there was a loss of control of the vehicle. The driver's blood alcohol test was negative, according to sources consulted by this newspaper.
"It is one of the most serious accidents we have had in the city, due to the number of people injured, but we do not have to mourn the loss of human lives", stated the mayor of Lleida, Fèlix Larrosa, in statements to public radio. The most seriously injured have been transferred to the Arnau de Vilanova Hospital, some of whom are currently undergoing surgery, and some of the minor injuries have been transferred to the same health center and to the city's CUAP.
According to the testimony of events collected by Catalunya Ràdio, several of the injured people suffered contusions and others had blood on their faces. The most affected, he said, were the passengers who were in the front and on the right of the coach. In the rescue efforts, the Bombers de la Generalitat mobilized a dozen units. The Emergency Medical System (SEM) activated 12 units, a medicalized helicopter and a team of psychologists.
In a message on X, the President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, reported that he is in contact with Mayor Larrosa, and wished a "speedy recovery" to all those injured: "All support to those affected and their families. My gratitude to the emergency teams who are working on it".
The president of the Parliament, Josep Rull, also had words of "support" and "affection" for the victims and their families at the start of the control session for the Government in the Catalan chamber, from where the different spokespersons have repeated their shows of solidarity.