50 die in bus crash in Indonesia

At least 50 people, nearly all of them schoolchildren, have been killed after their bus crashed head-on into a lorry on a busy Indonesian road, police said today.

The youngsters were heading home from a trip to Bali when the bus collided with a semi-trailer yesterday, said Lt Agus of the police department in Situbondo, about 500 miles east of Jakarta.

A second truck piled into the two vehicles, said Agus, who, like many Indonesians, uses only one name.

Traffic accidents are a frequent hazard of Indonesia’s often-crowded and poorly maintained highways.

Motorists often flaunt traffic laws and police can be bribed to ignore infractions such as speeding.