Two people killed as bus crashes on way to Oktoberfest

Two people were killed and many more injured when a bus carrying a group of Filipino tourists overturned in southern Germany on Sunday en route to the Munich Oktoberfest.

The bus was coming from Milan, an Italian city with a large Filipino community.

According to German police, there were 33 tourists on the bus when, at 5:41 a.m. local time (03:41 a.m. GMT), the vehicle went off the side of the A96 highway and overturned. No other vehicles were involved in the crash.

Six of the injured were immediately rushed by helicopter to nearby hospitals, one of whom was thought to still be in a life-threatening condition. Two more were taken by ambulance to the hospital, while another 22 were first treated at the scene before several of those were also brought to the hospital.

Police so far have only identified one of the two people who died as a 58-year-old Filipino citizen.

"It is naturally very chaotic at first, and establishing the facts is difficult,” explained a spokesperson for the local police headquarters. It took police hours to confirm how many people actually were on the bus.

Bus driver charged with negligent homicide

In addition to the 33 tourists, there were the two Italian bus drivers on board, both of whom were not injured in the crash. The driver who was at the wheel at the time of the crash is now being investigated for negligent homicide, police said. "That is standard procedure,” a police spokeswoman explained.

The cause of the accident remained unclear, police said. "The public prosecutor's office has commissioned an accident reconstruction expert report to determine the cause of the crash. It is far too early to comment.”

More than 200 firefighters, medics and police were rushed to the scene of the crash. A section of the highway was completely blocked for some time before, but in the afternoon, traffic was allowed to resume.

There have been a string of bus accidents in recent weeks. Earlier in September, a Dutch coach crashed in Switzerland, killing five, while a bus crash on Germany's A3 highway left 30 people injured.

Oktoberfest draws millions of visitors

Munich’s Oktoberfest is the world’s largest beer festival, attracting millions of visitors to the Bavarian capital each year. Held over roughly two weeks, it combines giant beer tents, traditional Bavarian food, live music and fairground rides, drawing visitors from Germany and around the world.

This year, the Oktoberfest runs from September 19 to October 4. Organizers said that at the halfway point, around 3.8 million people had already visited the festival — about 300,000 more than at the same point last year. 

Edited by: Wesley Dockery

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