Death Toll Rises to 9 in Spain Bus Crash
By Associated Press | April 21, 2008
MADRID, Spain — The death toll from the crash of a bus filled with Finnish tourists in southern Spain has risen to nine, the Finnish Foreign Ministry said yesterday.
The bus collided with another vehicle and overturned on a coastal highway near the resort town of Benalmadena late Saturday.
Among those killed was a 7-year-old girl. Nine others were seriously injured, the ministry said.
All of the passengers were from Finland, though the driver was not Finnish, the ministry said.
Police arrested the driver of the other vehicle, who was not seriously injured, after he failed a blood alcohol test, regional Interior Ministry spokesman, Hilario Lopez Luna, said.
"It appears the driver of the second vehicle, an SUV, was traveling at high speed and was over the legal alcohol limit," Mr. Lopez Luna told reporters.
The eastbound lanes on the highway were closed as heavy lifting machinery was brought in to allow rescue workers access to the inside of the bus, local media said.
