One woman dies in the accident of a bus transporting seasonal workers in Huelva

The vehicle was circulating at 6.25 a.m. on Monday on the A-484 road, in the municipality of Almonte

Remains of the crashed bus. Source: RTVE.es

A priori, the morning trip on Monday, May 1 was one of many trips that the bus company Surexport is in charge of on a daily basis. This includes the transportation of Moroccan workers from the farms where they have their homes in San Juan del Puerto (Huelva) to the greenhouses that extend between Almonte and the village and El Rocio. However, at around 6.30 a.m. the vehicle could not take the traffic circle that links the town of Almonte with the A-484 and went off the road causing the death of one of the seasonal workers and injuring the rest of the 39 crew members of varying degrees of severity - three of them are very seriously injured.

The injured women are part of the contingent of seasonal workers hired at origin under the Gecco Order to work in the red fruit campaign in the province of Huelva. They are part of the 14,800 that this year have come from Morocco and that between January and June collect berries under the plastics of the Huelva countryside. The last 200 arrived on April 12. This was the first season in which the deceased day laborer worked for Surexport, although, says a spokeswoman for the agricultural cooperative, she had worked for other companies in previous years.

All minor injuries - including the bus driver - have been admitted to health centers in the area (Almonte, Bonares, and Bollullos); whilst the rest, seven have been transferred to the Hospital Juan Ramón Jiménez de Huelva, nine to the Hospital Infanta Elena, also in the capital of Huelva (five of them referred from health centers), four to the Hospital San Juan de Dios de Bormujos (Seville), one to the Hospital Virgen del Rocío - the victim who is more serious- and another, the Virgen Macarena, both in Seville, according to information provided by the Ministry of Presidency of the Junta de Andalucía.

The bus where one worker died and 39 were injured. Source: HOY

The terrible accident has been "a blow for the whole region" that is in the midst of the strawberry campaign, as recognized by the mayor of Almonte, Rocio del Mar Castellano. In the sector, the general consensus is that never before had something like this happened. "It is sad to have to come to work in a foreign country and meet death," said the councilor on the distressing situation that the injured women, who for six months risk their lives, and leave their families behind, may be going through.