Tourist bus crash kills 10 in Germany

At least 10 people were killed and dozens injured when a bus carrying Polish tourists crashed on a motorway east of Berlin, German police said today.

Peter Salender, spokesman for police in Frankfurt Oder told the news agency dapd that emergency vehicles from the surrounding area had been called to the scene.

Authorities believe the Polish bus was forced from the autobahn by a car merging into traffic.

The bus appeared to have slammed into a bridge pylon.

An investigation is ongoing.

German police later raised the death toll to at least 12 people with dozens more injured.

Arne Feuring, president of police in Frankfurt an der Oder, said that seven of the wounded were in critical condition, while another 27 suffered injuries that were not life-threatening.

Authorities believe the bus, carrying 49 Poles on their way home from a vacation in Spain, crashed into a car that was merging on to the highway and then slammed into a pylon of an overpass.

He said the merging car’s 37-year-old driver was among the injured. An investigation into the accident has been launched.

German officials said they were organising an information point for Polish relatives of the victims.