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Date Published: 11/08/2022

ARCHIVED - VIDEO: Alicante passengers suffer heatstroke after 2 hours on bus with no air con in 40 degrees

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FACUA-Consumers in Action has asked the Valencia Government to investigate and start disciplinary proceedings against Agostense coaches

<span style='color:#780948'>ARCHIVED</span> - VIDEO: Alicante passengers suffer heatstroke after 2 hours on bus with no air con in 40 degrees

Festival goers returning from Arenal Sound in Burriana, Castellón, claim to have suffered anxiety attacks, heatstroke and vomiting following an agonising trip back to Alicante on a baking bus with no air conditioning.

Agostense coaches was responsible for transporting Alicante attendees at the festival (August 2 to 7) back to the city, and passengers were quick to air their frustration on social media, complaints that have been picked up by FACUA-Consumers in Action which is now putting pressure on the Valencian Government to investigate the incident.

"The association has learned through the complaints of users on social networks that this company offered its services with a bus that did not have air conditioning, which caused dizziness and anxiety attacks amongst passengers due to the high temperatures that were reached inside the vehicle," said FACUA in a statement, adding that it wants the government to start disciplinary proceedings against the bus firm.

Es idignante la situación que vivimos ayer volviendo del @ArenalSound en uno de sus buses oficiales direccion Alicante. Subiendo al bus notamos que el aire acondicionado no funcionaba y el conductor, el cual pertenece a la empresa de autocares Agostense, nos mintió diciendo que + pic.twitter.com/eyqaBVul8Q
— g r c (@graacee31) August 9, 2022

According to one of the festival goers, passengers repeatedly asked the driver to stop the bus so that they could get off, pointing out that "conditions were not appropriate for a journey of more than two-and-a-half hours in temperatures of around 40ºC".

Apparently, the driver stopped but ignored protests over the lack of air con and asked them to get back on the bus. Instead, they called the police who also contacted emergency services. Some passengers required medical assistance for heatstroke, anxiety attacks and vomiting before they were driven back to Alicante on another bus owned by the same company.

FACUA has reported Autocares Agostense to the Directorate General for Trade and Consumer Affairs and the Directorate General for Public Works, Transport and Mobility in Valencia citing article 16 of Legislative Decree 1/2019, of December 13, which states "consumers and users have the right to safe goods and services placed on the market".

Goods or services are considered safe when, "under normal or reasonably foreseeable conditions of use, including their duration, they do not present any risk to the health or safety of persons".

The association has asked both bodies to investigate the events and, specifically, whether the lack of air conditioning on the bus and the attitude of the driver could have caused "dangerous situations for the physical integrity of the passengers inside the bus".

In addition, an investigation is also requested into Autocares Agostense in order to determine whether its fleet of buses meets the technical requirements necessary to carry out the activity of passenger transport by road.

You might like: How to avoid getting heatstroke in cars in Spain

@graacee31

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