Eight killed as train hits bus

SERANG, Banten: A coal train hit a chartered bus at a train crossing near Serang in Banten province on Sunday, leaving at least eight people dead and over one dozen injured, hospital staff said.

"We have admitted more than 20 people from the accident site, eight of them are dead but we have been told that more are being brought in," a nurse at the emergency ward of the general hospital in Serang said.

The coal train hit the bus at a crossing in Lopang near Serang. Most of the victims were passengers on the bus.

Serang Police could not provide immediate information other than confirming the accident, saying that a police team was still on site.

It was the second train accident to hit the province in just over one week after another coal train was involved in a collision with a passenger train in Rangkasbitung on Oct. 25, leaving three people dead. --AFP