At least 12 people were killed and 37 injured early today when a bus travelling from Germany to France careered into a highway crash barrier in southern Belgium and burst into flames.
The bus crashed near the Belgian town of Hensies, close to the Franco-Belgian border post of Saint-Aybert. Belgium's RTBF radio said the bus was seen zig-zagging along the highway before hitting the concrete barrier.
Some of the victims survived the initial crash but were then trapped by the ensuing fire which erupted at the back of the bus, RTBF said.
"People were screaming and trying to get out," a witness told the radio. "People were breaking and getting out of the windows," another witness said.
The bus was carrying 49 passengers of mixed nationalities including Germans, Bosnians, Turks, Croats, Mongolians and one American, judicial and rescue officials said.
In Berlin, the Foreign Ministry said Germany's ambassador to Belgium was on the way to the crash site.
RTBF said one of the two bus drivers was killed in the crash. The second was taken to hospital where police were expected to question him about the cause of the accident.