AT least 13 people are killed and dozens more injured after a tour bus carrying factory workers to a beach holiday crashed on Java Island in Indonesia, according to police.

The bus and its 47 passengers were headed from Sukoharjo in Central Java to a family gathering in neighbouring Yogyakarta, when the driver lost control going downhill, said officers late yesterday.

“Witnesses we questioned said they saw the driver panicking as he tried to manage the gear stick, so there is an indication that the brake was faulty or not functioning,” said Bantul police chief Ihsan – who, like many Indonesians, uses only one name.

Deadly traffic accidents are common in the 270 million-population archipelago nation, where vehicles are often old and poorly maintained and road rules are routinely ignored.

“Thirteen people died; some at the scene and others while being treated in hospital. Thirty-four people are injured,” said Ihsan, adding that the injured were taken to three nearby hospitals.

The driver was among those who died when the bus tipped over and slammed into the side of the road, destroying the front of the vehicle and badly damaging its right side.

Ihsan said multiple passengers sustained head injuries and three toddlers are hurt.

Shortly before the crash, passengers had been asked to temporarily disembark, as the bus was having difficulty going uphill, added the police chief.

In March, a bus carrying dozens of pilgrims plunged into a deep ravine in Sumedang, West Java, killing 29 people.

In late 2019, at least 35 people were killed when a bus plunged into a ravine in Sumatra. – AFP, February 7, 2022.