British tourist dead and another in serious condition fatal Canary Islands bus crash | World News

A British tourist is in a serious condition, while another two are stable in hospital, after a fatal bus crash in the Canary Islands.

One man, understood to be aged 77, was killed in the crash, which happened when the vehicle plunged down an embankment along the GM-2 highway on the small island of La Gomera on Friday.

All of the passengers – 24 adults and three children – were British.

Police have launched an investigation but the cause has not yet ​been confirmed. Spain’s Guardia Civil says officers are looking into a possible brake failure.

On Saturday, officials from the Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe Hospital, near to where the crash took place, said three people treated there were progressing well and were expected to be discharged on Saturday.

Two people airlifted to the Nuestra Señora de Candelaria University Hospital, on the larger neighbouring island of Tenerife, remain in hospital. One was in a stable condition as of Saturday afternoon, while the other was in a serious but stable condition.

One other person who was taken to the University Hospital of the Canary Islands, also in Tenerife, remains in hospital in a stable condition, health officials said.

Images shared by the Canary Islands government on social media following the crash appear to show the bus had come off the road at a hairpin bend.

“Emergency health services attended to the 28 occupants of the bus, 27 tourists of British nationality and the driver,” local officials said on Friday.

Tour operator Holiday Property Bond said the British tourists were travelling to the airport to return to the UK ⁠when the accident happened.

Foreign secretary Yvette Cooper said in a post on X that the government was in touch with the local authorities and ready to support those affected and their families.

A Foreign Office spokesperson said: “We are supporting the family of a British man who died in the bus accident in the Canary Islands and are in contact with the local authorities.”

Juan Luis Navarro, island director for the central government, said the bus driver “tried to fight” after apparently detecting a brake failure, but the vehicle ultimately rolled down the slope.

“Fortunately, it stopped before being thrown off the road, otherwise it could have been much more serious,” he said.

Last year, one woman died and ​10 people were injured in a traffic accident on the same road.