We are still investigating the exact cause of the accident. We are currently focusing on evacuating and handling the victims
Magetan, E Java (ANTARA) - Seven people were killed and dozens of others were injured after a bus overturned and plunged into a 20-meter deep ravine in Plaosan Sub-district, Magetan District, East Java Province, on Sunday.

"As per the preliminary data, seven people including the driver were killed," Chief of the Magetan Police Resort Adjunct Senior Commissioner Muhammad Ridwan said in Magetan on Sunday.

However, he refused to divulge the exact cause of the accident.

"We are still investigating the exact cause of the accident. We are currently focusing on evacuating and handling the victims," he said.

He said rescue workers had difficulties evacuating the victims because the wreckage of the bus was found in the ravine. Moreover, the bus driver was pinched so it took more than two hours for rescue workers to evacuate him.

The bus carried tens of passengers who were supposed to visit Lake Sarangan in Magetan District. The driver reportedly lost control of the bus after its brake failed when it passed though a steep slope en route from Tawangmangu, Central Java, to Magetan.

The bus later hit a roadblock and plunged into a ravine.

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Translator: Louis Rika Stevani, Suharto
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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