21 pupils die in bus crash

At least 21 people, mostly high school students on a field trip, were killed and 23 were injured when a bus was struck by a load of plywood that fell off a truck, police said.

According to police, 49 students and two teachers were on the bus. Some of the injured were in hospital in a serious condition.

The bus was returning to a northern Greek city yesterday after taking the students on a field trip to Athens. The accident happened after the truck reportedly jackknifed along a winding mountainous stretch of the main highway linking Athens with the northern port of Thessaloniki.

Police said the bus was apparently hit by plywood boards that fell off a truck at Tempi, about 220 miles north of Athens. A few cars also collided with the boards as they swerved to avoid falling boards.

“It is a tragedy,” Greek fire department chief Panagiotis Fourlas told state-run television. ”Unfortunately, there are dead children.”