5 people hospitalized after a dramatic bus accident in a Spanish highway tunnel

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — A dramatic bus accident at the mouth of a highway tunnel in northeast Spain injured five people, three of them critically, officials said Tuesday.

The bus was carrying 50-60 textile workers to a nearby factory when the accident occurred on the C-32 highway about an hour north of Barcelona, according to emergency services and local officials.

From the position of the bus, it appears to have hit the sloped edge as it was entering the tunnel and it was vaulted upward until its front came to a rest at the top. That left it propped diagonally across the entrance to the tunnel.

Emergency authorities for the Catalonia region said three people in critical condition were flown by helicopter to a hospital in Barcelona. Two more people were taken to a local hospital.

The accident took place near the town of Pineda de Mar, a Mediterranean coastal town. Traffic authorities closed the highway to all vehicles heading north.