15 die in Italian bus crash

At least 15 people were killed and 21 injured when a bus carrying 38 elderly Italian tourists plunged into a river in the Dolomites, Reuter reports from Rome.

Italy's civil protection service said the accident happened when the bus collided with a car just south of the town of Brunico, in the Alto Adige region, near the border with Austria, and careered down an embankment into the fast-flowing River Gadera.

More than 150 firemen, police and other emergency workers were involved in the rescue operation. Helicopters were at the scene and fire-brigade divers were sent to search the river for bodies.