Five people, including four Spanish nationals, were killed and nine more Spaniards injured in a road accident yesterday in Andhra Pradesh, according to Spain’s ministry of foreign affairs.
“There have been four deaths of Spanish nationality, nine Spanish wounded, the Indian driver died also,” the ministry said in a statement, adding that consular officials were working with Indian authorities.
Police said a minibus carrying 10 Spanish nationals collided with a container truck in Chittoor district, killing four of the Spanish visitors, including two women, and the local driver of the bus.
“There were 11 people, including the driver, in the mini bus. The driver of the container truck lost control while negotiating a curve and collided head-on with the mini bus,” a policed officer said.
The Spaniards were on a visit to see development work undertaken in the area by a trust that is run by a group from Spain.
The Rural Development Trust, also known as Fundacion Vicente Ferrer (FVF) in Spain, has worked in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana states since 1969.
The organisation runs a variety of programmes relating to health, education and women’s empowerment for marginalised rural populations in the region, and has a regular stream of volunteers from Spain.
Of the six injured, one person was in a critical condition, police said.
Expressing grief over the incident, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu directed officials to get in touch with the Spanish embassy in New Delhi for obtaining details of the victims.
The chief minister also directed the officials to make necessary arrangements to shift the bodies.
India has some of the world’s deadliest roads with more than 150,000 fatalities annually due to poor roads, badly maintained vehicles and reckless driving.
In April, a bus swerved off a mountain road in northern India, killing 44 people.