Bus crash victim dad 'stupefied' (2)

(ANSA) - Turin, November 9 - The father of one of seven Italian Erasmus exchange students who died in a bus crash in Spain earlier this year told ANSA Wednesday the family is "stupefied" after a Spanish judge shelved criminal proceedings in the case. A total of 13 young women died in the March 20 accident that left another 34 injured, six of them Italian. "I'm sorry, I fell asleep," the 63-year-old driver reportedly told emergency rescue workers at the crash site. The Spanish judge ruled there was no mechanical failure and the driver was not at fault. The decision can be appealed.
    "We are stupefied and in shock, again," Alessandro Saracino, whose daughter Serena lost her life in the crash, told ANSA.
    "We reserve the right to pursue all legal avenues, and will call on the European Union to take a stance," he said. The bus tipped over while taking the Erasmus students back to their base in Barcelona after attending Valencia's famous Las Falles festival, in which each city district burns a wood and paper-mache monument it has worked year round to build. The Italian victims were: Francesca Bonello, Lucrezia Borghi, Valentina Gallo, Elena Maestrini, Elisa Scarascia Mugnozza, Serena Saracino, and Elisa Valent.