BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Many of the victims of a bus crash in southern France that killed two people and injured dozens of others are Colombian nationals, officials said Monday.
In a statement published on X on Monday, Colombia’s Foreign Ministry said 30 passengers were Colombian nationals living in Spain.
Colombia’s ambassador to France, Alfonso Prada, said the bus crashed in the French Pyrenees on Sunday evening as it returned to Barcelona after taking passengers on a shopping trip to the principality of Andorra.
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“We determined that the passengers were people living in Barcelona,” Prada told Colombian radio station Blu. “After doing some shopping in Andorra, they returned home to take advantage of the (seasonal) sales.”
The charter bus with 47 people on board crashed into a cliff near the Porte Puymorens ski resort, according to local authorities, who said seven passengers were in critical condition.
Prada said some relatives of the victims had contacted the Colombian consulate in Barcelona for assistance.
The survivors are being treated in four hospitals in southern France and one hospital in the Catalan city of Puigcerda.
The rescue operation involved more than 120 people, including from neighboring Catalonia in Spain and Andorra. Helicopters were also deployed.
