18 dead, 31 injured as bus bursts

The burnt-out shell of the bus could be seen as emergency teams reached the scene

As many as 18 people are feared dead Monday after a tour bus burst into flames following a collision with a truck in southern Germany.

Another 31 were injured, some seriously.

Authorities said that forensic specialists were being brought in from Germany's federal police office to remove and identify the bodies from the charred vehicle.

The accident took place around 7 a.m. (0500GMT) when the bus rear-ended the truck at the end of a traffic jam on the A9 highway near Muenchberg in Bavaria, near the Czech border. The highway remained closed on both sides for hours.

That number would surpass the last major European bus accident, which occurred in January in Italy and killed 16 people.

German news agency dpa reported that helicopters were on the scene to rescue the injured and that the A9 highway had been closed because of the accident.

The crash happened near Muenchberg in Bavaria.

Source: Khaleej Times