Passengers in fatal bus crash near French ski resort were mostly Colombian nationals living in Spain

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Many of the victims of a bus crash in Southern France in which two people were killed and dozens of others were injured are citizens of Colombia, officials said Monday.

In a statement published on X on Monday, Colombia’s foreign affairs ministry said 30 passengers were Colombian citizens living in Spain.

Colombia’s ambassador to France, Alfonso Prada, said the bus crashed on Sunday evening in the French Pyrenees as it was returning to Barcelona after taking passengers on a shopping trip to the principality of Andorra.

“We have identified that the passengers were people who live in Barcelona” Prada told Colombian radio station Blu. “They were going back home after doing some shopping in Andorra, to take advantage of (seasonal) sales.”

The charter bus carrying 47 people crashed into a cliff near the ski resort of Porte Puymorens, according to local authorities, who said that seven passengers were in critical condition.

Prada said that some relatives of the victims had contacted Colombia’s consulate in Barcelona for help.

The survivors are being treated in four hospitals in southern France, and one hospital in the Catalonian city of Puigcerda.

More than 120 individuals were involved in the rescue effort, including from neighboring Catalonia in Spain and Andorra. Helicopters were also deployed.