FOURTEEN British tourists were injured yesterday in Portugal when their coach rolled over on ''the road of death'' while trying to avoid a crash involving two trucks. Two Portuguese men in one of the trucks were killed, writes Cameron Simpson.

The Britons were among 31 people injured near Mimosa, 62 miles south of Lisbon, according to Joao Martins of the National Police Co-ordination Centre.

The Portuguese tour bus was carrying 38 British and German tourists to the Expo 98 world fair from the southern Algarve region with a Portuguese guide and the driver, according to a spokesman for Megatours, which organised the day-long excursion. It swerved to avoid a crash between the trucks on the IP-1 road connecting the holiday region of the Algarve with the Portuguese capital. Another car ran into the back of the coach, said Portuguese news agency Lusa.

The busy Algarve-Lisbon road has only two lanes for long stretches and is notorious for accidents. The mayor of nearby Ourique, Jose Santos, was quoted by Lusa as describing the stretch as ''the road of death''.