German school bus veers off road, injuring 12 children

A school bus has veered off road and plunged six meters into a ditch in southwestern Germany. Police say 12 children are hurt, four of them seriously.

Regional police spokesman Paul Wissler says some 35-40 children were on the bus at the time of Tuesday’s accident, but all were able to free themselves before rescue services arrived. He says four children have been taken to the hospital for treatment of serious but not life-threatening injuries.

Wissler says the bus slipped off the snowy road on a hairpin turn near the village of Bonndorf in the Black Forest. He says it broke through a barrier, flipped on its side and slid down a hillside, coming to a stop in a stream bed. It’s not immediately clear exactly what caused the accident.