Seoul: At least one person was killed and several others were injured when a bus carrying Israeli tourists collapsed on a country road in central South Korea, local police told AFP on Friday.
The bus overturned late Thursday after making an abrupt bend. According to authorities, it was transporting 33 Israeli visitors from the well-known mediaeval city of Gyeongju in the southeast to nearby Chungju.
The bus went down the steep road when it changed gears, and it appears the driver lost control and struck some adjacent trees, which caused the bus to turn onto its side, according to Chungju police, who spoke to AFP.
A coach with a smashed windscreen was pictured in local media lying on its side on a route flanked by trees, with debris all around it. One Israeli woman was reported dead by South Korean authorities, according to the Israeli Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem, while the other passengers suffered injuries, some of which were serious.
According to local authorities, the South Korean driver and tour guide both sustained injuries and were taken to a hospital. According to investigators, the Israeli passengers aboard the bus, who arrived in the nation on April 6, ranged in age from their fifties to their seventies.
They were to spend a day in a Chungju neighbourhood known for its spas before visiting a national park in the northeast before leaving the country on Monday.
In response to a request from the Israeli embassy in Seoul, the foreign ministry of South Korea declared that it would offer the victims all necessary help.
