POECHLARN, Austria Eight German children died and 23 were injured when their double-decker coach bound for a youth camp in Hungary crashed in Austria on Monday, the Austrian fire brigade said.
The bus was carrying 61 passengers on holiday to Lake Balaton when it collided with a truck on the Vienna-Salzburg A1 West Motorway near the town of Poechlarn, some 80 km (50 miles) west of the capital.
The fire brigade at nearby Melk said 11 boys and 50 girls from the southern German cities of Stuttgart, Munich, Karlsruhe and Freiburg had been aboard the coach.
Two drivers were on the coach, the tour operator Ruf Jugendreise said from Germany.
Austrian state television said emergency services had retrieved the bodies of four boys and four girls, and that one girl remained in critical condition.
German police said the coach, which was travelling toward Vienna, came from Harsewinkel near Guetersloh and was one of two taking 125 people to Hungary.
The German Youth Hostel Association, which arranged the trip for two of the holidaymakers, said the children were aged between 14 and 17 years and had embarked on their journey on Sunday from Freiburg.
(Reuter)