4 killed in Hong Kong runaway schoolbus accident

Four people were killed when an empty runaway schoolbus mounted a pavement in a crowded Hong Kong neighbourhood on Monday, trapping passers-by underneath and injuring 10, police said.

Two women -- aged 80 and 70 -- and two men -- aged 83 and 77 -- were killed after the yellow bus careered out of control in the downtown North Point district.

Photographs in local media showed victims sprawled on the ground while others received medical treatment at the scene.

The vehicle rolled down the street after it was parked, terrifying passers-by as the driver ran towards it and tried in vain to stop it, according to the police.

"We believe he might have forgotten to pull the handbrake or hadn't properly pulled it," chief inspector of police Sun Lun-yum told reporters.

The 62-year-old driver became trapped under the bus and was dragged along for about 20 metres before falling onto the road.

Police said the bus travelled for a total of 100 metres, hitting two taxis before finally crashing into a building in a narrow lane lined with shops.

In addition to the driver, who suffered injuries to his head, neck and back, a further nine pedestrians aged between 22 and 89 were taken to hospital for treatment. Several remain in a serious condition.

Hong Kong prides itself on having one of the world's best public transport systems but deadly bus accidents are not unknown.

Five people were killed and 32 injured when a coach carrying Cathay Pacific staff to Hong Kong's airport collided with a taxi last month.

A speeding double-decker overturned in northern Hong Kong in February, killing 19 people and leaving more than 60 injured. The bus driver was arrested for dangerous driving.

And in 2003 a double-decker bus collided with a truck and plummeted off a bridge, killing 21 people and injuring 20.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Tennessee school bus crashes, kills at least six children

A bus carrying dozens of elementary school students crashed in Chattanooga, Tennessee, on Monday, killing at least six children and sending 23 people to a local hospital with injuries, authorities said.

Five children were found dead on the bus and another died at a hospital, said Melydia Clewell, spokeswoman for the Hamilton County District Attorney's office.

Rescue teams were still going through the bus so the number of fatalities could change, she said. There are two or three children at the hospital "who could go either way," she said.

Students on the bus, which carried as many as 35 passengers, were in kindergarten through fifth grade, a spokesman for the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office said. That would make them roughly ages 5 to 10.

Asked about the crash following a budget hearing in Nashville, Governor Bill Haslam said the state would offer its assistance.

"It's a sad situation anytime there's a school bus with children involved, which there is in this case," he said.

Photographs issued by the Chattanooga Fire Department showed the bus on its side, wrapped around a tree.

The bus driver is being questioned and cooperating with investigators, the Chattanooga Police said on Twitter.

Twenty-three people were transported in ambulances to a local hospital, and the last patient was extricated from the bus, the fire department said.

Police Chief Fred Fletcher called the accident "every public safety professional's worst nightmare," the Times Free Press reported.

Two bloodied students laid on stretchers in a front yard nearly an hour after the crash receiving attention from first responders, while others not taken to the hospital appeared dazed with cuts on their faces, the newspaper said on its website. (Reporting by Frank McGurty and Daniel Trotta in New York; Editing by Howard Goller and Lisa Shumaker)

source: news.abs-cbn.com