34 hurt in Lille bus bridge crash

THIRTY-FOUR Spanish tourists have been injured - six seriously - after their coach hit a low bridge on the outskirts of Lille on Sunday morning.

Most of the victims, who were mostly in their twenties, were able to leave hospital yesterday and spent the night in a local sports centre ahead of a repatriation to Spain later today.

The six seriously injured passengers, aged between 18 and 29, are said to be in a stable and non-life-threatening condition in hospital.

The accident happened in the La Madeleine suburb of Lille, at a 2.6-metre high underpass. The bus, which was a metre too tall, was carrying 58 passengers from Bilbao to Amsterdam and the driver appeared to miss several warning signs and a barrier ahead of the low bridge, with the top of the bus sliced off.

One passenger told reports: "I was sleeping and suddenly jumped out of my skin. When I opened my eyes, I saw the tunnel above my head. I looked around. A lot of people were shouting for help. I don't remember much of what happened after."

The 59-year-old driver is being questioned by police. He says he was following directions on his GPS satnav. Both of the drivers onboard had taken the journey regularly, but were following a different route to usual.