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| Fatal bus fire on German motorway | Fatal bus fire on German motorway |
| (40 minutes later) | |
| Up to 20 people have been killed in a fire on a bus on a motorway near the German city of Hanover, police say. | Up to 20 people have been killed in a fire on a bus on a motorway near the German city of Hanover, police say. |
| The bus was reported to have been travelling to Berlin when the fire broke out, trapping some passengers, most of whom were said to be elderly. | |
| But 10 people were able to escape from the vehicle after the fire started, on the A2 Autobahn. | But 10 people were able to escape from the vehicle after the fire started, on the A2 Autobahn. |
| A spokesman for Lower Saxony's interior ministry said the cause of the fire was not immediately clear. | |
| "The bus caught fire while driving along. The passengers did not manage to get out of the burning vehicle in time," said a motorway police spokesman. | "The bus caught fire while driving along. The passengers did not manage to get out of the burning vehicle in time," said a motorway police spokesman. |
| He said there had been "no collision with another vehicle or object". | He said there had been "no collision with another vehicle or object". |
| Reports say the bus had pulled into the hard shoulder after catching fire. | Reports say the bus had pulled into the hard shoulder after catching fire. |
| "I just saw smoke and then I got closer and closer and realised that a coach was on fire," eyewitness Nadia Possberg told Reuters. | "I just saw smoke and then I got closer and closer and realised that a coach was on fire," eyewitness Nadia Possberg told Reuters. |
| Another eyewitness said what he saw was "just horrible". | Another eyewitness said what he saw was "just horrible". |
| A fire department spokesman, Joerg Segreff, told AP that 12 people had been injured, three of them with serious burns. | A fire department spokesman, Joerg Segreff, told AP that 12 people had been injured, three of them with serious burns. |
| German Transport Minister Wolfgang Tiefensee said he was "deeply shaken by the dreadful fate of the victims of the fire" and send his condolences to their families, reported AFP. | |
| Mr Tiefensee said there would have to be an investigation into the cause of the fire and whether safety regulations had been followed. |