One person has died and another 19 have been injured, four of them seriously, as a result of a crash between a bus, a tow truck and four cars on the A-6 motorway in in the Torrelodones area of Madrid, in the direction of La Coruña.

The accident, the details of which are still not clear at this time, happened at 7.40am, when it was still dark and the bus was carrying 22 passengers on line 611 from Madrid to Hoyo de Manzanares.

The fatal victim is a 46-year-old woman who was travelling on the bus, who suffered multiple injuries and died at the scene.  The emergency services were unable to do anything to save her.

Four of the 19 other injured, in a serious condition with broken bones and facial injuries, have been taken to various hospitals in the Madrid Community.  They are all middle-aged according to the sources within the emergency services. 15 others with varying minor injuries have been taken to other hospitals in the area.

Firefighters had to cut the bus driver and two passengers out of the wreck and a total of 20 ambulances were used in the rescue operation.

As a result of the accident, all four lanes of the motorway were closed, causing tailbacks of up to 9km and forcing the police to set up diversions.