SUNDAY MORNING 1:40: At least nine Finnish tourists dead in Costa del Sol bus crash

Several more injured, some seriously: death toll may rise

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Nine Finnish tourists are known to have died in a bus crash on Saturday evening in the vicinity of Malaga on the Spanish Costa del Sol. Details are still coming in, but initial reports from police and rescue officials at the scene said that the death toll may well rise even higher.
      The coach, carrying 49 Finnish tourists on their way to Malaga Airport for their return flight to Helsinki, was apparently in collision with a 4x4 vehicle on the A7 highway close to Benalmádena, and rolled onto its roof after impact, trapping many of the passengers inside.
     
First reports of casualties and fatalities were somewhat conflicting, as Finnish Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Stubb reported at around 23:00 local time on Saturday evening, some two and a half hours after the accident happened, that he had been informed of eight deaths, while Spanish media sources are speaking of nine dead, including a seven-year-old girl. Six women and two men are also believed to have died, and according to the most recent details (Sunday, 01:50) from the Finnish Embassy in Madrid, at least eight of the deceased are now thought to be Finnish citizens. Another account stated that all the victims were Finns.
      The Spanish newspaper El Pais has written of a further 19 persons being seriously injured and 16 with minor injuries, while Foreign Ministry sources said six people were gravely injured and around 30 suffered minor injuries.
     
The identity of the victims is not known as yet, but the coach was carrying Aurinkomatkat customers from all over the country, including some families, said the travel operator's CEO Jukka Salama late on Saturday night.
      According to eye-witnesses, the cause of the accident was a rash overtaking manoeuvre by the driver of a 4x4 vehicle, who attempted to pass the coach on the right-hand side, and caused it to swerve off the carriageway and flip over. Both vehicles were travelling at relatively high speed at the time on the motorway, in heavy rain and high winds.
      The road surface was said to be slick.
      The driver of the other vehicle was not injured, but was breathalysed at the scene and found to have twice the Spanish limit for alcohol in his bloodstream. He has been arrested, and could face multiple manslaughter charges.
     
The injured have been taken to four hospitals in Malaga and Marbella. A tented triage area was also set up at the scene.
      According to Jukka Salama from Aurinkomatkat, the coach was carrying the tourists to the airport in Malaga to catch the Finnair flight AY 2154 back to Helsinki-Vantaa.
      They had been on a week-long trip to Marbella.
      The plane left Malaga on schedule, and is expected to land at Helsinki-Vantaa in the early hours of Sunday morning, but none of those in the crash were aboard, according to Foreign Ministry reports. Even those with only superficial injuries were taken to hospital for treatment.
      According to Spanish media sources, even if the death toll does not rise overnight, the accident was the worst on roads in the country since 2001.
     
Five members of the Aurinkomatkat staff stationed in Spain have reportedly travelled to the accident scene. They are accompanied by a Finnish pastor.
      Crisis counselling has been arranged for survivors, who have been accommodated in hotels in the resort of Torremolinos.
      They will be flown back to Finland as soon as possible.
     
     
We shall return to this story with an update in the course of Sunday, as new information comes in. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has announced that there will be a press conference on the subject attended by Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb and Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen at 11:00 on Sunday morning.
     
     
The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has opened a hotline for relatives of persons travelling from Marbella and booked on AY 2154 at 09-160 55555. The ministry will also be updating its website with details of the accident. There is no information as yet on the identity of victims.
     
     
Aurinkomatkat's number for relatives is 010-446 7120, and the company will also place information on its website.

More on this subject:
 UPDATED SUNDAY 18:30: Spanish police have now identified all victims
 UPDATED SUNDAY 18:30: Some relatives travelling to Spain this evening
 UPDATED SUNDAY 19:40: First of injured in Spanish bus crash to return to Finland tonight

Links:
  Ministry of Foreign Affairs (in Finnish)
  Aurinkomatkat (in Finnish)
  A report of the accident on an English-language news site in Spain

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