Bus crash with Italian students and cruise ship passengers leaves over 50 injured in Barcelona

A collision between two buses on Barcelona's Diagonal Avenue on Monday left 53 people hospitalized, four of them in critical condition, and four others with serious injuries.

One of the buses involved was coming from Lloret de Mar (Selva) and was carrying Italian students on a visit to the Catalan capital. The other bus was carrying cruise ship passengers.

The crash occurred slightly after 3:00 pm ​​near the junction of Carrer Rosselló and Carrer Roger de Llúria, near the Casa de les Punxes.

Dozens of emergency units were deployed to the scene, including local police, 10 firefighter units, and 19 medical emergency groups.

Among the four critically injured are two people - including one minor - who were boarding the bus. Another was a pedestrian walking in the area who was hit by one of the buses.

SEM health emergency units moved three critially injured patients to Hospital Clínic, Sant Pau hospital, and Hospital del Mar. A fourth person critically injured was trapped inside one of the buses, before being moved to the Vall d'Hebron hospital.

A seriously injured minor was moved to Sant Joan de Déu children's hospital.

Emergency services treated 66 individuals, 12 of whom were unharmed. Aside from the critical and seriously injured patients, the others sustained minor injuries and were transferred to various hospitals across the city. 

Buses removed

Both buses were removed by 7:30 pm on Monday evening. A statement from Julià, one of the coach companies, said that the incident took place when their coach was parked in an authorized area for passenger drop-off and pick-up.