LISBON - The more than 20 Chinese tourists taken to hospital following an accident on a Portuguese motorway on Thursday night were discharged from hospital in the wee hours of Friday.

The accident occurred on the A6 motorway near Montemor-o-Novo, a town 100 km east of Lisbon.

The coach, with a Spanish license plate and driver, was taking 36 passengers, all of them Chinese tourists to Lisbon.

The accident occurred at 17:17 local time, resulting in the coach skidding off the road and coming to rest, semi-overturned, in a ditch.

According to reports on the TVI24 news channel, the accident was caused by the driver suffering a health episode and losing control of the vehicle.

Emergency services including ambulances, fire engines and a National Emergency Medical Institute (INEM) helicopter were dispatched to the scene.

Medics treated 11 people on site while 26 were taken to a hospital, 19 to Evora and seven Setubal, the two nearest sizable cities.

The 26 injured comprised 18 women, seven men and one child. It was not made clear whether the 26 included the driver. All were discharged at 1:30 am local time, a spokesperson for the hospitals told Lusa Portuguese News Agency.