Two survivors - the vehicle's 63-year-old driver and a female passenger - were pulled out of the river by firefighters with rope


Madrid: Six people died and two were injured after a passenger bus careened off a bridge and plunged into an overflowing river in northwestern Spain, emergency services said on Sunday.
Two survivors - the vehicle's 63-year-old driver and a female passenger - were pulled out of the river by firefighters with rope and taken to nearby hospitals with varying degrees of injury.
The driver tested negative for alcohol and drugs, a police spokesperson told Reuters.
The spokesperson added that the search-and-rescue operation around the bridge had now concluded, while engineers attempted to find a way to safely recover the wreckage from the river Lerez.
The river's strong current and high flow due to heavy rains sweeping the Galicia region hampered efforts to retrieve the bodies throughout the weekend.
The coach from the company Monbus was travelling between the cities of Lugo and Vigo on Saturday night and had stopped at a penitentiary centre near the site of the accident.
It skidded off a straight road on the bridge for reasons that remain unclear and plunged into the water in a fall of at least 40 metres (131 feet) at around 9.30 p.m. local time (2030 GMT).
Emergency services were first alerted by a call from a passerby who noticed the bridge's protective barrier had been severely damaged. Shortly afterwards, they received a second call from inside the bus as it was filling up with water.
The river remained above its overflow threshold throughout the night, forcing emergency rescue workers to suspend the operation for nearly two hours before resuming in the morning.
Authorities at first reported a total of nine people onboard the bus when it fell, based on the driver's testimony, though the count is now believed to have been eight based on missing person reports filed by relatives.
The regional president of Galicia, Alfonso Rueda, pointed to the "very bad" weather conditions as one of the possible causes of the accident.
SOURCE: REUTERS

WB approves additional financing of $108mn for Pakistan
- 17 minutes ago

Pakistan Army shoots down Indian quadcopter for violating LoC
- an hour ago

CSS 2024 written exam result released
- 2 hours ago

MAGA glam isn’t about beauty — it’s about politics
- 6 hours ago

Canada parliamentary elections: Liberal Party gains lead over Conservatives
- 3 hours ago

Severe heat wave in Sindh, rain likely in first week of May
- an hour ago

PTA not to issue Starlink license immediately
- 12 minutes ago

CTD, security forces kill 7 terrorists in Quetta
- an hour ago

Govt, PTI on same page in response to Indian threats
- 3 hours ago

Petroleum prices likely to remain same for next 15 days
- 3 hours ago

Welcome to the world of triple-digit spring weather
- 6 hours ago

Colón out as CEO of U.S. Center for SafeSport
- 7 hours ago