July 3 (UPI) — Seventeen people are believed dead after a tour bus crashed and burned Monday morning near Bayreuth, Germany, a police spokeswoman said.
Another 31 people were injured, some with serious burns, police said.
“It is completely possible that some people did not make it out of the bus, it’s unclear where 17 of them are,” police spokeswoman Anne Hoefer said.
The bus was traveling on the A9 highway in southern Germany, from Lausitz to Italy’s Lake Garda, when it struck a truck carrying beds and pillows. The truck also caught fire, Sky News reported, citing the German newspaper Bild. The passengers were a senior citizens group, and all were German nationals.
The A9, the main highway between Berlin and Munich, was closed in both directions as fire fighters and rescue workers arrived. Helicopters were used to transport injured passengers to local hospitals.
