Bus Driver’s Fainting Allegedly Triggered Esplugues Crash with 14 Injured
Early this Monday, a bus operating on the L10 intercity line in Esplugues, near Barcelona, faced a tragic incident when the vehicle veered off and fell into an open trench. A union representative for Rosanbus, the company managing the line, explained to El Periòdico de Catalunya that the driver had reported feeling unwell just minutes before the plunge. The central dispatch had urged the driver to stop, but the communication cut off immediately after the ambulance dispatch message was sent, leaving the control room with limited information about the next steps. The union official, Eduardo Migallón, described the sequence to the newspaper, underscoring the twist of events that left responders without a clear understanding of the driver’s condition at the moment of the incident [TV3 report].
Despite the bus continuing to broadcast its GPS location, the driver did not answer further calls from the control center. Migallón noted that the exact cause of the fainting remains unknown, as the driver had begun his shift only a few minutes prior to the accident and the immediate medical situation was not observable to the responding teams. The driver’s health trajectory has been reported as favorable so far, with medical authorities monitoring his condition as part of the ongoing assessment of the incident [Policía Local de Esplugues briefing].
As TV3 reported earlier, the fainting hypothesis has gained traction in the investigation conducted by the Local Police of Esplugues. Details about the investigation remain scarce, but witnesses described the bus moving slowly before the crash, which aligns with Migallón’s account that the driver likely attempted to stop the vehicle unsuccessfully. The bus subsequently mounted the curb, drifted, and fell into nearby road works, triggering a complex emergency response [TV3 update].
In the aftermath, the crash wounded fourteen people of various degrees of seriousness. One person was in critical condition, another remained in grave prognosis, and several others sustained non-critical injuries. Migallón expressed regret over the incident, calling it a tragic accident and wishing a speedy recovery for all injured passengers and staff involved. The scene prompted a rapid deployment of emergency services and a multi-agency inquiry to determine the precise sequence of events and any contributing factors [Police and municipal statements].