At least three people have been killed and four are missing after a passenger bus plunged off a bridge into a river in northwest Spain, local emergency services said on Sunday.
Two survivors, the vehicle’s driver and a passenger, have so far been rescued from the Lerez River, where a strong current and an intense current due to heavy rains sweeping the Galicia region are complicating search and rescue operations, authorities said.
Survivors were taken to nearby hospitals with varying degrees of injuries, they added.
The Monbus company vehicle was traveling between the cities of Lugo and Vigo and had stopped at a detention center near the scene of the accident.
The bus slipped off the bridge for reasons that are still unclear and crashed into the water around 9:30 p.m. local time on Saturday.
According to preliminary information, the bus was carrying a total of nine people, the driver and eight passengers, Maica Larriba regional authority said.
“There are no more bodies on the bus so we are continuing the search for the four missing,” added Larriba.
The river stayed above the overflow limit overnight, forcing rescuers to suspend operations for almost two hours due to bad weather and ground conditions. Activities resumed in the morning.