Bus Crashes in Germany, Killing at Least 18 - [International news]

LEIPZIG, Germany — A bus carrying a tour group of 46 seniors and two drivers on a main north-south artery in Germany crashed on Monday into a tractor-trailer and burst into flames, killing at least 18 people, the Bavarian police said.

The crash occurred around 7 a.m. in stop-and-go traffic caused by construction along the A9 highway near Stammbach, in the southeastern state of Bavaria, the police said. At least 30 people were wounded, the police said, and two of them were reportedly in serious condition.

“It is now clear that all 18 missing bus passengers lost their life in the accident,” the regional police of Upper Franconia, in Bavaria, said on Twitter. Forensic specialists have been called in to help recover and identify the bodies.Anne Höfer, a spokeswoman for the Bavarian police, said the bus was already in flames when officers and firefighters arrived at the scene. Rescue helicopters and ambulances took the most seriously injured to nearby hospitals, while others were treated at the scene.

Several hundred rescue workers and police officers remained at the site hours after the crash, which blocked traffic in both directions on the highway, which links Bavaria with Berlin.

Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed her condolences and sent the transport minister, Alexander Dobrindt, to the scene, The Associated Press reported. “Our thoughts are with the families of the victims and we wish all those who were injured a speedy recovery,” she said.

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Mr. Dobrindt said that 11 bodies had been recovered from the bus, The Associated Press reported. “The heat must have been intense because there is nothing flammable left on the bus,” he said, according to Reuters. “Only steel parts are recognizable, so you can understand what that meant for the people in this bus.”

Local news outlets in Saxony reported that the bus had left the regional capital, Dresden, and was bound for Lake Garda in Italy.

Many vacationers traveling to southern Europe use Germany’s highways in the summer months, at the same time that necessary construction and repairs are carried out, increasing the risk of accidents.
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