Views: 41
3 killed in Norway bus accident carrying tourists from countries including Singapore.
A bus carrying several foreign tourists went off the road and ended up partially submerged in a lake near the Raftsundet strait that separates the Lofoten archipelago from the Norwegian mainland, killing three people, police said on Dec 26.
“Many of the passengers on the bus were foreign nationals,” police said, adding that 58 people were involved.
“The weather conditions in the region are bad, complicating rescue operations,” local police said in a statement, referring to strong gusts that hit the area.
Passengers from eight countries were on board: China, France, India, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Norway, Singapore and South Sudan.
A spokesman for the Hadsel Municipality told The Straits Times that 11 people were hospitalised following the accident. The bus had been lifted out of the water, Norwegian police said on Dec 27.
Norwegian tabloid Verdens Gang (VG) reported that the dead were two women, and a child around 12 years old. Their nationalities were not revealed by the police.
VG also said that the driver of the bus had been charged with violating the Road Traffic Act. Police have also seized his driver’s licence and taken a blood sample.
A traveller from Singapore, identified only as Ping, described the accident as a “nightmare experience” to local newspaper Lofotposten.
“Everyone screamed and panicked. It was very chaotic. The windows on the bus were smashed and we climbed out,” she said, recalling the bus crashing and rolling down a slope.
Ms Ping, who escaped worse injuries with a swollen lip, said she and her four friends had been seated in the middle and the back of the bus. One of her friends needed stitches on his back and was limping when they were sent to the Thon Hotel Svolvaer.
The Lofoten archipelago is a popular winter destination to watch the Northern Lights.
Ms Ping and her friends have altered their original plans to explore Lofoten.
“We just want to be in a town without mountains, winding roads and steep ridges,” she told local media at the hotel. “Of course we’re scared. We just cheated death.”
Norwegian news agency NTB cited Nordland police officer Bent Are Eilertsen as saying: “The priority now is to treat the injured and an investigation will be launched to clarify what transpired.”
He added it was proving difficult to contact relatives due to the lack of a complete list of passengers and the number of nationalities.
Responding to The Straits Times’ queries, the Norwegian Embassy in Singapore said it had not been notified of any Singaporeans being among the dead.
A spokesman added that none of the injuries among those being treated were reported to be life-threatening, and that the embassy had no information regarding the number of Singaporeans on board the bus.
The Chinese Embassy in Oslo, in media reports, said there were about 20 Chinese passengers on the bus and none of them are among the dead.
The Malaysian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Dec 27 it was communicating with the Norwegian authorities about the incident, and had sent a consular team to Norway to provide assistance to Malaysian citizens affected by the crash.
AFP