Tragic Christmas Eve in Spain: At least four people died in a bus accident in Galicia in the north-west of the country. After the vehicle fell into the Lérez River late on Saturday evening, three of the passengers were also missing on Sunday, according to the Spanish emergency service. According to the information, the third and fourth bodies were only recovered on Sunday morning.

The bus is now empty, they said. Initially, no information was given on the identity of the fatalities. The cause of the accident was also still unclear.

The bus was traveling on the N-541 provincial road from Vigo to Lugo with nine people on board when it fell off a bridge into the river near the municipality of Pedre at around 9.30 p.m. The driver and one passenger were rescued alive. The three missing people will be searched for intensively in the river on Sunday, said spokesmen for the police, fire brigade and regional government.

According to official information, the rescue and salvage work was very difficult on Sunday night. After the fall, the bus was in a hard-to-reach place and was almost completely covered by water. The rescue teams had to abseil from the bridge to get to the vehicle. The operation will continue to be hampered on Sunday by the strong current and bad weather with lots of rain, it said.