Coach crash horror as vehicle carrying Russian schoolchildren topples off Belgium bridge killing five
Five people have died after a bus carrying Russian schoolchildren crashed through barriers and fell off a bridge in Belgium.
The bus ploughed through guardrails and ended up on its side under a highway bridge near the port city of Antwerp this morning, killing at least five people and leaving two more critically injured.
The accident happened in Ranst at around 4.30am local time and no other vehicles were involved, according to Mayor Lode Hofmans.
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Speaking in a telephone interview with The Associated Press, he said: 'We have five dead.'
He said two more people were in critical condition, another three were seriously injured and seven more had light injuries.
Mayor Hofmans said the Polish bus was taking Russian youngsters from Volgograd, Russia, and was heading towards Paris when the accident happened.
He said 42 people were in the bus, mainly teenagers and a few in their early twenties.
It was still unclear what caused the accident.
There were no visible skids or break marks on the busy E34 highway just outside Antwerp.
Some debris of the bus was already strewn on the highway where it rammed the guardrail and went down skidding and crashing into a field some underneath the highway bridge.
Pictures of the crash scene showed the white bus lying on its side with belongings of passengers strewn outside.
The bus ploughed through guardrails and ended up on its side under a highway bridge near the port city of Antwerp this morning, killing at least five people and leaving two more critically injured.
The accident happened in Ranst at around 4.30am local time and no other vehicles were involved, according to Mayor Lode Hofmans.
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A crane lifts a bus which crashed into a ravine
in Ranst, Belgium, killing five people. Two others are in a critical
condition and a further three people are seriously injured
The wreckage of the Polish bus lies under a
bridge after it careered off a highway. No other vehicles were involved
and it is not yet known what caused the crash
Police officers and firefighters inspect the
bus, which was carrying Russian schoolchildren, lying on its side after
it toppled off a bridge this morning
He said two more people were in critical condition, another three were seriously injured and seven more had light injuries.
Mayor Hofmans said the Polish bus was taking Russian youngsters from Volgograd, Russia, and was heading towards Paris when the accident happened.
He said 42 people were in the bus, mainly teenagers and a few in their early twenties.
Mayor Lode Hofmans said the Polish bus was
taking Russian youngsters from Volgograd, Russia, and was heading
towards Paris when the accident happened
Police officers go over evidence and personal items at the site of a bus crash
A photo taken from a highway overpass shows the
scene. There were no visible skids or break marks on the busy E34
highway just outside Antwerp
There were no visible skids or break marks on the busy E34 highway just outside Antwerp.
Some debris of the bus was already strewn on the highway where it rammed the guardrail and went down skidding and crashing into a field some underneath the highway bridge.
Pictures of the crash scene showed the white bus lying on its side with belongings of passengers strewn outside.