Survivors to Return to Uk After Ecuador Coach Crash

The 12 injured British survivors of a bus crash in Ecuador were recovering from their ordeal in a hotel today as officials tried to arrange early flights back to the UK.

After a 40-minute flight from the coastal city of Manta, the group arrived in the Ecuadorian capital, Quito, where several ambulances and a minibus were waiting on the runway.

Three people were taken off the plane in wheelchairs and, with another woman, were taken to the Metropolitano hospital. British Embassy staff said they were being treated for whiplash, facial abrasions and minor leg injuries.

The others were driven to a hotel, where they spent the night. British officials said they wanted to fly the group back to the UK as soon as they could - possibly later today.

Five British women were killed in the accident, on Saturday night, when their bus collided with a lorry near the town of Jipijapa. The acting British ambassador met the injured at a clinic in nearby Manta and flew back with them to Quito.

The group's guide, Sarah Howard, 26, and Rebecca Logie, 19, Indira Swann, 18, Elizabeth Pincock, 19, and Emily Sadler, 19, were taking part in a 15-week South American adventure trip organized by Warwick-based company VentureCo. They were traveling between Quito and the small Pacific-coast village of Puerto López.

Along with the 12 injured Britons, a French national and the group's Ecuadorian driver and guide were also hurt. None of the injuries were said to be critical. Police said the lorry driver fled the scene and was still on the run last night. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office said it understood the local authorities had appointed a prosecutor to investigate the tragedy.

Mark Davison, the director of VentureCo, said none of the 15 survivors had life-threatening injuries. "We will then assess what they wish to do - I anticipate some will choose to come home and some will choose to continue with their travels," he said.

Worried parents of those injured were being kept regularly updated, while the bereaved families of those killed were being supported by local police in the UK.

"It's the one thing that should never happen - they should never have to go through this," he said. "As a parent myself, I have a small impression of what they are going through and my heart absolutely goes out to them."

Reports said the truck collided with the bus after 7.30pm local time, when daylight was fading. The left side of the bus bore the impact and at least some of the five victims were thought to have been killed instantly.

The bus had traveled all day through the Andes and the 18-strong group were half an hour from their destination. They had completed a two-week orientation period and Spanish language classes in Quito and were traveling to the Pacific coast to work on community projects, such as building classrooms.

They were also due to help develop the infrastructure of Machallila coastal park, including clearing a trail and cutting steps into a cliff face. The bay of Puerto López has long been popular with tourists, who use it as a base for exploring a coast dotted with stilt houses, mangrove swamps and villages.

One of the dead women, Indira Swann, wrote on her final Facebook entry of a previous treacherous bus ride that caused her to be sick. Dated April 6, she described the trip back to Quito after climbing the mountain Cotopaxi: "Back in quito now, soso knackered, i was sick on the bus - the rockyest bus ive ever been on, it drove through a river."

Swann posted dozens of photographs from her time in Quito and the Cotopaxi climbing trip. In one message, she wrote: "Having an amazing time, learning spanish, acquiring ethnic clothing, climbing volcanos (to 5300 meters!) and salsa dancing very badly, along with great friends and a fair amount of cheap tequila."

In another group she set up, Swann and Elizabeth Pincock, known as Lizzie, discussed their nervousness before the trip.

The injured are John Hunter, Rona Watson, Poppy Gould, Alex Yudin, Stuart Ness, Nicola Cox, Katherine Davis, Lizzie Ferguson, Sasha Magill, Tash Petty, Sarah Martin and Matthieu Leonard.