The Latest: All 18 missing in German bus crash are dead
By Associated Press
Jul 3, 2017 8:56 AM CDT
Fire fighters stand beside a burnt-out coach on the motorway A9 near Muenchberg, southeastern Germany, Monday, July 3, 2017 after a bus crashed into a truck and caught fire. (Nicolas Armer/dpa via AP)   (Associated Press)

BERLIN (AP) — The Latest on bus-truck collision in Germany (all times local):

3:50 p.m.

Bavarian police confirm that all 18 people missing in the bus crash on a highway in southern Germany are dead.

Another 30 people were injured when the bus carrying a group of German senior citizens crashed into a truck on the A9 highway in Bavaria early Monday and burst into flames. Two of the injured are still in life-threatening condition.

Police also tweeted that the members of the group were between 41 and 81 years old and mostly from Saxony in eastern Germany. Two drivers and 46 passengers were on the bus.

The accident took place around 7 a.m. when the bus rear-ended a trailer-truck at the end of a traffic jam on the A9 highway near Muenchberg in Bavaria.

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2:55 p.m.

Germany's transport minister is visiting the site of a bus crash on a highway in Bavaria which is believed to have killed 18 people and injured 30.

Minister Alexander Dobrindt says two of the injured are in live-threatening condition. He says 11 bodies have been recovered from the charred wreckage of the bus, which burst into flames when it crashed into a truck on the A9 highway near Muenchberg on Monday. Rescuers are still looking for remains of the missing people.

Dobrindt said when firefighters arrived, the heat of the fire was so strong that they couldn't get near the bus to rescue the people locked inside, but were only able to start extinguishing the fire.

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1:15 p.m.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has expressed her sadness about the bus accident which is believed to have killed 18 people and injured 30.

Merkel said Monday that, "our thoughts are with the families of the victims and we wish all those who were injured a speedy recovery."

The chancellor also thanked the rescue teams and said she had sent the government's transport minister, Alexander Dobrindt, to the crash site.

The accident took place around 7 a.m. (0500GMT) when the bus rear-ended a trailer-truck at the end of a traffic jam on the A9 highway near Muenchberg in Bavaria, not far from the Czech border.

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12:30 p.m.

German police say they believe that 18 people died in a Bavarian bus accident after the bus rammed into a truck and burst into flames.

Bavarian police say 30 others were injured, some seriously, and were brought to hospitals for treatment. The others, they said in a statement Monday, "are believed to have died on the burning bus."

Police spokeswoman Irene Brandenstein says the bus was carrying a German senior citizens' tour group.

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11:55 a.m.

German police say there were "multiple" fatalities after a bus crashed into a truck on a highway in Bavaria and burst into flames.

Bavarian police said on Twitter Monday that "multiple passengers on the bus were killed" in the early-morning crash. They did not provide details, but had previously said 17 people were missing.

Another 31 were injured, some seriously.

Authorities said that forensic specialists were being brought in from Germany's federal police office to remove and identify the bodies from the charred vehicle.

The accident took place around 7 a.m. (0500GMT) when the bus rear-ended the truck at the end of a traffic jam on the A9 highway near Muenchberg in Bavaria, near the Czech border. The highway remained closed on both sides for hours.

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11:00

Police say a group of people from Saxony in eastern Germany was aboard the bus that went up in flames after it crashed into a truck on southern Germany.

Police say they fear a number of fatalities in the accident Monday morning, in which 31 people were injured and 17 have not been accounted for.

Oberfranken police tweeted that family members could call a special number for further information on the accident.

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10:30 a.m.

German police fear that there may be a number of fatalities after a collision in Germany engulfed a coach in flames. Some 31 people were reported injured with 17 other remaining to be accounted for. German news channel n-tv showed footage of the bus which was burned down to a black, smoking skeleton.

Police spokeswoman Irene Brandenstein says, "We're afraid that people may have died in the accident."

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10 a.m.

Police say a coach went up in flames after it crashed into a truck Monday morning in southern Germany, injuring 31 people and leaving 17 others to be accounted for.

Police said several people were severely injured in the crash near Muenchberg in Bavaria.

Two drivers and 46 people and were on the bus, police spokeswoman Irene Brandenstein said.

German news channel n-tv showed footage of the bus which was burned down to a black, smoking skeleton.

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