19 killed in bus crash

Nineteen people were killed and seven injured in a bus accident in southern Kyrgyzstan today, officials said.

The bus was travelling on a mountainous road with 26 passengers on board when the accident occurred, government spokesman Sanjar Umetaliyev said. The accident took place in Kara-Kulja district, 250 miles south of the capital, Bishkek.

The dead included three secondary school students, said Roza Daudova, a government spokeswoman.

The cause of the accident wasn’t immediately known, Umetaliyev said.

First Deputy Prime Minister Kubanychbek Jumaliyev and other government officials travelled to the scene to investigate.