Eighteen feared dead in Germany bus accident

UP TO 18 people were feared killed yesterday in one of Germany’s worst road accidents after a tour bus carrying pensioners burst into flames in a collision with a trailer truck, police said.

“Thirty passengers were taken to hospitals, some with serious injuries. The others are believed to have died in the burning tour bus,” which had been carrying 48 people, police said.

The bus carrying 46 passengers and two drivers rammed into the trailer in a traffic jam on the motorway A9 close to the Bavarian town of Stammbach. The crash shortly after 7am sent the bus up in flames, with television images showing only the charred skeleton of the vehicle remaining.

The bus was carrying a tour group from eastern Germany’s Saxony state, police said, and it was bound for Nuremberg, according to Bild newspaper.

The accident struck near the southern town Bayreuth, best known for the opera festival that draws thousands of classical music lovers every summer.

Some 200 emergency workers were deployed to the site, including firefighters, rescue workers and police, while south-bound traffic on the motorway remained blocked.

Those hurt were being flown by rescue helicopters to hospitals, many with life-threatening injuries.

With the likely toll, the accident at the start of the summer holiday season is one of the worst to hit Germany.