Indonesia: At least 25 people got killed in tragic road accident

In Indonesia, at least 25 people were killed and 13 others injured after a passenger bus plunged into a steep canyon and landed in a river in South Sumatra province last night.

Authorities have deployed 120 rescue workers to help survivors and retrieve the dead. The cause of the accident is being investigated.

Originally the death toll given by police was 24, but the head of the local search and rescue team Berty Kowas said another body was found, taking the number to 25.

“Currently the evacuation is ongoing and some divers are searching (for victims) around the bus,” Kowas told sources on Tuesday.

Police and rescuers were cleaning the river and the nearby slopes to look for victims and several passengers were feared missing.

“It crashed into the concrete road barrier before plunging into the ravine. Some people are still trapped inside the bus,” local police spokesman Dolly Gumara told sources on Tuesday, adding no other vehicle was involved.

Search and rescue teams have been deployed to look for victims, Gumara said, adding injured survivors were taken to hospital.

The accident happened in a remote area near the town of Pagar Alam, hampering the efforts to rescue the victims.

According to a passenger manifest, the regional bus left Bengkulu province for Pagar Alam with 27 on board but some survivors told police there were around 50 people inside when the accident happened.

The bus was going from Bengkulu to the city of Palembang.