Five killed as bus carrying Russian teenagers falls from Belgium bridge

Five people died this morning, and two more were critically injured, after a bus carrying Russian and Ukranian teenagers crashed through barriers and fell 18ft off a bridge near the port of Antwerp, in Belgium.

The Daily Mail reports that the accident happened in Ranst, at around 6.30am, local time. The bus ended up on its side under a motorway bridge. No other vehicles were involved.

In a telephone interview with The Associated Press, Mayor Lode Hofmans said: "We have five dead."

He explained that two more were in a critical condition, another three were seriously injured and seven more had light injuries.

He said that the Polish bus was carrying 42 Russian students, mainly teenagers between the ages of 15 and 17. They were travelling from Volograd, Russia, and were heading towards Paris.

The Telegraph reports that the driver, the tour guide and three teenagers were killed in the crash.

It is not yet clear what caused the accident, but the absence of skid marks means that investigators are focusing on the theory that the driver had fallen asleep at the wheel.

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