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VALLETTA (Reuters) - A 62-year-old Belgian man and a 37-year-old Spanish woman were killed and six other tourists critically injured in Malta on Monday when a double-decker tourist bus hit low-hanging tree branches, police said.

Health Minister Chris Fearne said three of the badly injured were Britons - two boys aged six and eight, and a man aged 44. The others were a German woman, 31, an Italian woman, 72, and a 35-year-old man whose nationality is not yet known.

The accident happened at Zurrieq, 16 km (10 miles) from Valletta, on a road frequently used by tourist buses. Local media reported the branches may have been lower than usual because of damage from gale-force winds on Sunday night.

The tourists were sitting on the open top deck of the bus.

Rescuers used cranes to lift the injured on stretchers from the top deck.