Three people were killed while four were injured after a bus swerved off the road and ended up overturned and partially submerged in Åsvatnet Lake in Hadsel, Norway on 26 Dec at 1.30pm local time.
Source: Verdens Gang
The public transport bus carried 58 people, mostly foreign tourists from countries including India, China, Malaysia, and Singapore.
The Norwegian news outlet Verdens Gang (VG) identified the deceased as two women and a child around 12 years old.
However, the police have yet to reveal their nationalities.
Heavy snowdrifts and strong winds in the area made rescue difficult, but everyone involved in the crash has since been removed from the vehicle.
Among four seriously injured passengers, three were taken to Stokmarknes Hospital by helicopter, while the rest of the passengers were taken to a nearby school, reported the BBC.
Source: Verdens Gang
However, a spokesman for the Hadsel Municipality told The Straits Times that 11 people were hospitalised following the accident.
Meanwhile, the bus driver has been charged with violating the Road Traffic Act.
Police have also seized his driver’s licence and taken his blood sample.
“Just five minutes before the accident, I told him that the bus was going too fast,” a passenger from China named Zhang Hujia told VG.
However, Police Chief of Staff Bent Are Eilertsen said there was “very bad weather” and the road was slippery when the accident occurred.
Following the incident, local authorities declared a state of emergency and several entities, including the bus company, activated crisis response teams.
Similarly, a local hotel had been allocated for family members and as a reception centre, said Vidar Thom Benjaminsen of the nearby Vågan district.
“The priority now is to treat the injured and an investigation will be launched to clarify what transpired,” said Police Chief Eilertsen.
However, he added that it has been difficult to contact the relatives of those involved in the accident due to the lack of a complete list of passengers and the number of nationalities.
Speaking to local newspaper Lofotposten, a Singaporean tourist identified as Ping described the accident as a “nightmare experience”.
She recalled the bus crashing and rolling down a slope, saying, “Everyone screamed and panicked. It was very chaotic. The windows on the bus were smashed and we climbed out.”
Ms Ping who sat around the middle and back of the vehicle with four other friends, managed to emerge with only a minor injury – a swollen lip.
Meanwhile, her friend needed stitches on his back and was suffering a limp upon arrival at the hotel.
According to an NRK report, the bus had been travelling from the town of Narvik to the Lofoten archipelago, a popular destination for watching the Northern Lights.
Also read: Plane crashes on landing in South Korea airport, 179 on board presumed dead
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Featured image adapted from Verdens Gang, NRK
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