Tram crash kills two children

A collision involving a shopping mall shuttle bus and a public transportation tram in Vienna killed two children and injured 17 people, police said today.

A four-year-old and a 16-year-old died in the accident yesterday evening, and a 15-year-old suffered a severe skull fracture, police said in a statement.

The others injured in the accident were treated for lesser, unspecified injuries, the Austria Press Agency reported, citing authorities.

At least five of them were in the tram, which collided with the bus in the Floridsdorf district in the northern part of the city.

The bus, operated by a private company, was on a route shuttling shoppers between a subway station and a shopping mall.

Its driver, who suffered facial lacerations and shock, told police he noticed the tram, coming from his left, too late and tried to accelerate to get away from the tracks when he saw it, APA reported.

The tram driver braked, but couldn’t bring the streetcar to a stop before it crashed into the bus.

The tram driver was among those injured.

Trams have the right of way at the intersection where the accident occurred.