Spanish passengers die in India minibus crash

FOUR Spanish nationals died when the  minibus they were travelling in collided with a container truck in the Chittoor area of southern India. Police said their local driver also died in the accident. 

Six others Spanish nationals were also injured, one of them critically.

Police said, “There were 11 people, including the driver, in the minibus. The driver of the container truck lost control while negotiating the curve and collided head-on with the minibus.

The deceased were identified as Vincent Prez, Josefa Moran, Francisco Pedrosa and Nieves Lopez.

Three of them were from the southern Andalucian town of Ronda where flags at the Town Hall are flying at half-mast and three days of mourning have been announced  by the mayor. The fourth victim was from Granada.

The group had travelled to India to see development activities, initiated by the Rural Development Trust run by a group from Spain, in villages in Anantapuramu district.

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.