Several victims of a bus crash in southern France that killed two people and injured dozens of others are Colombian citizens, authorities said Monday.
In a statement published on X, Colombia’s Foreign Affairs Ministry said 30 of the passengers were Colombian citizens living in Spain.
Colombia’s ambassador to France, Alfonso Prada, said the bus crashed in the French Pyrenees on Sunday evening as it was returning to Barcelona after taking passengers shopping in the principality of Andorra.
“We have identified that the passengers were people living in Barcelona” Prada told Colombian radio station Blu. “They were going back home to take advantage of the (seasonal) sales after doing some shopping in Andorra.”
The charter bus carrying 47 people crashed into a rock near the ski resort of Porte Puymorens, 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 help.
Survivors were being treated at four hospitals in southern France and one in the Catalan town of Puigcerda.
More than 120 people were involved in the rescue operation, including people from Spain’s neighbouring Catalonia and Andorra. Helicopters were also deployed.