(adds confirmation, updates number of casualties)

MADRID, April 19 (Reuters) - Nine Finnish tourists were killed and 22 injured when their coach careered off a motorway in southern Spain, the Civil Guard said on Saturday.

"There were 44 people on the bus, and it seems they were all Finnish," a Civil Guard spokesman said. He said six of the injured were in serious condition.

Spanish media, quoting local officials, said the accident occurred when another vehicle tried to overtake the coach.

State radio said the tourists were on their way to Malaga airport to fly home to Finland when the crash occurred between the towns of Benalmadena and Torremolinos.

Spain's southern Costa del Sol coast is a popular holiday destination among northern Europeans. (Reporting by Elisabeth O'Leary; editing by Andrew Dobbie)

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