INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
At least 25 people have been killed after a passenger bus plunged into a 262ft (80-metre) ravine on Indonesia's Sumatra island.At least 14
other people were taken to hospital with injuries, including one in a critical condition with bone fractures.The incident happened just
before midnight on Monday on a winding slope in South Sumatra province's Pagaralam district.Local police chief Dolly Gumara said the bus
crashed into a fast-flowing river after the driver lost control of the vehicle in an area with a number of sharp inclines.Image:Seats from
the bus are seen in the riverThe bus was heading for the provincial capital Palembang from the neighbouring city of Bengkulu.Chief Gumara
said rescuers were still searching for other passengers who might have been dragged by river currents.The bus can carry 52 passengers, but
it is unclear how many were on board at the time of the incident.The driver and two crew members were among those killed.Television footage
showed police and members of the National Search and Rescue Agency evacuating the injured.Survivors told authorities the brakes on the bus
apparently failed, but police are investigating the cause of the accident.Road accidents are common in Indonesia due to poor safety
standards and infrastructure.Early last year, 27 people were killed when a packed tourist bus plunged from a hill in West Java province.Two
months later, two accidents in West Java's hilly resort region of Puncak killed at least 15 people.In September last year, 21 were killed
when a tourist bus plunged into a ravine in Bogor, another hilly area in West Java.
