Out-of-control bus careens down hill and overturns, killing 12

A bus crash in Indonesia’s West Sumatra province has claimed the lives of at least 12 people, including two children, and injured 23 others.

The inter-province bus, carrying 34 passengers, was en route to Jakarta from Medan in North Sumatra when the tragedy occurred on Tuesday.

According to Reza Chairul Akbar Sidiq, the director of West Sumatra traffic police, the bus apparently experienced brake failure while navigating a downhill road near a bus terminal in Padang city.

Survivors recounted the driver's struggle to control the vehicle as it sped down a series of steep hills after the brakes malfunctioned.

The bus ultimately overturned, trapping many of the victims underneath.

Emergency services transported the deceased and injured to two nearby hospitals.

Police are currently investigating the incident to determine the exact cause of the crash.

Thirteen of the injured were treated for serious injuries, Mr Sidiq said. The driver was among those in critical condition.

Local television footage showed the mangled bus on its side, surrounded by rescuers from the National Search and Rescue Agency, police and passersby as ambulances evacuated the injured victims and the dead.

Road crashes are common in Indonesia because of poor safety standards and infrastructure.

In 2024, a bus carrying 61 students and teachers returning from an outing to a high school in Depok, just outside Jakarta, slammed into cars and motorbikes after its brakes failed, killing 11 students and injuring dozens of others.

In 2023, a tourist bus with an apparently drowsy driver slammed into a billboard on a highway in East Java, killing at least 14 people and injuring 19 others.