Five people died after a bus plunged into a river overnight while crossing a bridge in Spain’s northwestern Galicia region, officials said Sunday.

The accident took place on Saturday night near the city of Vigo and the border with Portugal. The regional La Voz de Galicia newspaper said the bus was carrying people visiting their loved ones in jail in Monterroso in central Galicia.

Two people, including the bus driver in his 60s, were rescued and taken to hospital.

The emergency services recovered two corpses a few hours after the accident before finding three more bodies later on Sunday, a spokesman for the Civil Guard said.

Officials believe there were either eight or nine passengers onboard.

The authorities said a motorist first raised the alarm after noticing a safety rail on the bridge had been damaged. Rescuers then received a call from the bus, which helped them find the wreckage.

Rescue operations had to be suspended overnight due to bad weather but resumed at dawn with the help of mountain rescue units and a helicopter.

The accident took place “at a spot with a steep gradient”, making access difficult, said a Civil Guard spokesman in the city of Pontevedra, some 30 kilometres (18 miles) from the site of the accident.

Authorities said rescue operations were also complicated by the heavy rain during the night, causing the level of the Lerez river, where the bus fell, to rise sharply.

They said the cause of the accident was not yet known but that the poor weather could have played a role.

‘Tragedy’

“We do not yet know the causes with certainty” but “it is true that the weather conditions were very bad that night”, said Alfonso Rueda, the president of the Galicia region.

Rueda later posted pictures of his visit to the site of the accident on social media “to encourage and thank the security and emergency responders for their professionalism and commitment”.

“They have been there from the first minute in difficult conditions. My condolences to the relatives of the victims,” he wrote on Twitter.

The Civil Guard said the bus driver had tested negative for alcohol and drugs.

Local officials said one of those killed was a young Peruvian woman living in Galicia working with elderly people. The other victims were Spanish.

The mayor of Cerdedo-Cotobade municipality, Jorge Cubela, described the accident as a “tragedy” and hailed the “professionalism” of rescue workers deployed to the scene.

Source: AFP

King Charles III has hailed the “heartfelt solidarity” of people across the recession-hit UK struggling with a worsening cost of living crisis, in his first Christmas Day message as monarch.

Addressing the country from the Windsor Castle chapel where his mother, Elizabeth II, was interred in September, the 74-year-old also thanked people for the “love and sympathy” expressed following her death.

Standing aside a sparkling Christmas tree, the sovereign noted in the annual pre-recorded royal message — broadcast at 1500 GMT — that it is a “particularly poignant time for all of us who have lost loved ones”.

He then turned to the impact of the country’s growing economic woes, as decades-high inflation eats into earnings and escalates strikes over pay across the public and private sectors.

“I particularly want to pay tribute to all those wonderfully kind people who so generously give food or donations, or… their time, to support those around them in greatest need,” Charles said, dressed in a blue suit.

“Our churches, synagogues, mosques, temples and gurdwaras have once again united in feeding the hungry, providing love and support throughout the year.”

The king also commended charities for their “extraordinary work in the most difficult circumstances”.

He added: “Such heartfelt solidarity is the most inspiring expression of loving our neighbour as our self.”

Charles ascended to the throne when Elizabeth died on September 8 after a record-breaking seven-decade reign.

He also took over as head of state of 14 Commonwealth countries, including Australia, Canada and New Zealand.

‘Compassion’

His coronation will take place on May 6 next year, with Buckingham Palace vowing to reflect the monarchy’s historic traditions and its modern role.

In his inaugural Christmas message, Charles said both he and his late mother shared “a belief in the extraordinary ability of each person to touch, with goodness and compassion, the lives of others”.

“This is the essence of our community and the very foundation of our society,” he added, praising public sector workers from the armed forces to emergency responders to teachers.

In a return to tradition for Britain’s royals — interrupted by the pandemic — they gathered for Christmas Day this year at Sandringham, their private winter retreat in eastern England.

Charles and Queen Consort Camilla, 75, were joined by Prince William and wife Kate — and their children Princes George and Louis and Princess Charlotte — at a local church service.

Disgraced Prince Andrew, who has been sidelined over his links to the late US paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein and claims of sex with a minor, was also among the royals who greeted well-wishers outside.

However, US-based Prince Harry and wife Meghan were notable absentees, as their ongoing feud with the family shows little sign of abating.

The couple risked deepening the rift — which first became public when they sensationally quit royal life in early 2020 — by airing various grievances in a six-part Netflix docuseries this month.

It follows a series of other broadsides they have launched against the royal family since relocating to California, with more set to come.

Harry will publish a contentious memoir — named “Spare” — within weeks.

Source:  AFP