British tourist dead and more 20 injured after bus loses control and crashes into ravine on Canary Islands

Oliver Trapnell
Fri, 10 Apr 2026 15:02:04 +0000

A British man has died and more than 20 others have been injured after a tourist bus lost control and crashed in the Canary Islands, the local government has said.

The bus plunged down a ravine while travelling on the GM-2 road on the island of La Gomera around 1.15pm local time on Friday.

It is understood 24 adult passengers were in the vehicle along with three minors and the driver.

“Emergency health services attended to the 28 occupants of the bus, 27 tourists of British nationality and the driver," a local government spokesman said.

"We can confirm one male has died and 27 people who have suffered injuries of varying degrees of severity, three of them are serious, have been transferred to the Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe Hospital in La Gomera."

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They earlier confirmed the Canary Islands Emergency Service was dispatched to the scene, together with a medicalised helicopter, five ambulances and a medical team.

In an update around 6.30pm local time, a Civil Guard spokesman said: "The man who died in the bus crash in La Gomera is a 77-year-old British national."

Pictures from the scene of the crash show the damaged bus lying on its side some distance from the road.

The crash occurred just metres from the corner of a road near a tunnel where police are investigating tyre marks.

The bus can be seen bearing the logo of Gomera Tours, a tour operator which offers excursions around the islands, as well as airport, port and hotel transfers.

Authorities are thought to be looking to move those with serious injuries to hospitals in Tenerife.

Canary Islands president Fernando Clavijo wrote on X: "Following the accident of a bus reported in La Gomera and the work of the emergency teams who are intervening at this moment.

"My support to the victims and their families."

The driver told police the brakes of the vehicle failed to respond as he travelled downhill.

He went on to explain he attempted to stop the vehicle by veering onto a dirt track.

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In an update around 8.30pm local time, health officials raised the number of seriously injured to four and said two men aged 73 and 42 had been airlifted from La Gomera to different hospitals in Tenerife.

They said: "Apart from the man who died, a 73-year-old man who, at the initial moment of assistance, had severe multiple injuries, was transferred in an ambulance to Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe Hospital in La Gomera and subsequently by medicalised helicopter to the University Hospital of the Canary Islands in Tenerife.

"A 42-year-old man who, at the initial moment of assistance, also had severe multiple injuries, was transferred in an ambulance to Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe Hospital before being taken by medicalised helicopter to the University Hospital Nuestra Senora de la Candelaria, also in Tenerife.

"Two seriously injured individuals were transferred in ambulances to Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe Hospital.

"Twenty-three slightly injured individuals were transferred by ambulance, the Red Cross, and Civil Protection workers to Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe Hospital."

Angel Victor Torres, Minister for Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory, added: "Tragic news in La Gomera, with the confirmation of one person deceased.

"Very attentive to the actions in these first moments of the emergency services and the healthcare personnel.“With a heavy heart. May there be no more victims."

A receptionist at El Balcon de Santa Ana, a resort in Playa de Santiago confirmed the holidaymakers had been staying at the resort and that they were all British.

She said: "They had left the hotel to head to Tenerife on the ferry. They were all British."

A regional government emergency response coordination centre said this afternoon: "The Government of the Canary Islands, through the General Directorate of Emergencies, has declared an alert situation due to a multi-casualty accident in La Gomera starting at 2pm today, Friday, April 10.

"This decision is adopted based on the situation that has occurred and in application of the Territorial Emergency Plan for Civil Protection of the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands (PLATECA)."

The incident took place on the GM-2 - one of the main roads on the island - which connects the island's capital San Sebastian with destinations in the northwest.

La Gomera is the second-smallest of the main islands in Spain’s Canary Island chain and is made up of multiple volcanic mountains.

British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said: "My thoughts are with those affected by the tragic incident involving a bus carrying British holidaymakers in the Canary Islands.

"We are in touch with the local authorities & ready to support Brits & their families, who can contact the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) on +44 20 7008 5000 or +34 928 262 508."

The crash is understood to have occurred just a mile away from the scene of another bus crash last year in which a 73-year-old woman died and 11 other people were injured.