Alex Trelinski
FIVE elderly people were seriously injured on Tuesday when a coach travelling from Valencia to Almeria suffered a burst tyre and overturned on a Murcia motorway.
15 others suffered minor injuries following the incident on the A-7 close to the Cabezo de Torres exit.
The coach was taking 44 passengers on a break to Roquetas de Mar, organised by the Imserso programme which offers cut-price holidays for senior citizens.
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Shortly before noon, a tyre suffered a blow-out and the coach jumped the central reservation.
It ended up overturned on the Alicante-bound carriageway of the motorway.
The driver suffered an arm injury, while a woman had to be freed by a fire crew after her arm was trapped.
Many of the passengers were rescued by other motorists who broke windows to help them get out of the coach.
Fire crews and four ambulances transferred the travellers to the Santomera service area for initial treatment at a hastily-arranged field hospital.
They were then taken to the Morales Meseguer, Reina Sofia, and Virgen de la Arrixaca hospitals in Murcia City.
The accident caused four kilometres of traffic jams with the northbound carriageway closed for an hour until the coach could be moved to free up one of the lanes.
