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Crashed bus: Several seriously injured people were taken to hospital

Photo: Vigili del Fuoco / dpa

A bus carrying students has plunged more than a hundred meters down a forest slope in Italy. According to media reports, the bus driver and at least two young people were so seriously injured that they had to be flown by helicopter to hospitals. The other occupants, most of whom were in their teens, were treated at the scene with minor injuries after the accident early Tuesday afternoon.

Driver is said to have been blinded by the sun

The bus came off the road on a mountainous road near Massa-Carrara in Tuscany. Photos from the scene of the accident showed how the blue bus came to a halt between trees and branches on a slope. Helpers of the mountain rescue and the fire brigade abseiled down to him. The Italian mountain rescue published a photo on Twitter showing the action.

According to Corriere della Sera, the bus driver told the emergency services that he had been blinded by the sun and had lost control of the vehicle. According to reports, the man was trapped in the car and seriously injured and freed by the rescue workers. He was conscious before he was flown to a clinic.

lmd/dpa