3 killed in bus accident in Sweden

Three people were killed and around 30 others injured, including two in critical condition, in a bus accident in central Sweden, Swedish Television reported on Sunday.

The accident occurred at about 7 a.m., Sunday morning between Sveg and Fagelsjo in Harjedalen, in central Sweden.

The bus was carrying 52 eighth grade students and seven adults from the town of Skene in southwest Sweden for a ski vacation in the north. A sports club had organized the ski trip, which left from the Angskolan middle school in Marks Municipality early Sunday.

Police confirmed that seven people are seriously injured. All the wounded have been transported to hospital, reports Swedish Television.

Rescue worker Peter Nystedt told Swedish Television that the site of the accident looked like a war zone.

"Kids were being treated in the ditches and pretty much everywhere," he said.

The bus was traveling north on E45 when it ran off the road. Site pictures showed the bus sloping down on its side from the road.

The Swedish Transport Administration and police are investigating the cause of the accident, which was still not understood late Sunday afternoon, according to Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter. The stretch of the road where the bus turned over is notoriously accident-prone, Swedish Television reported.

Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven has expressed mourning through a statement carried by Swedish TT News Agency.

"I heard the horrifying news of the bus accident near Sveg. It leaves me and the entire country in mourning," Lofven said in the statement.

"The rescue work is ongoing and we are monitoring developments closely," he said.

Source: Xinhua