21 Killed as Indonesia Bus Plunges into Ravine

Bandung: Officials say 21 people were killed when a tourist bus plunged into a ravine on Indonesia's main Java island.

The bus was carrying a group of employees from a private company from the West Java province town of Bogor to a tourist destination in West Java's Sukabumi district when the accident happened Saturday.

A spokesman at Pelabuhanratu hospital, Taufik, who uses one name, said that in addition to the 21 dead, the nine others aboard the bus were seriously injured.

Local police spokesman Trunoyudo Wisnu Andiko said the bus plunged into the 30-metre (98-foot) deep ravine after the driver lost control of the vehicle in an area with a number of sharp inclines.

Road accidents are common in Indonesia due to poor safety standards and infrastructure.