A bus carrying students and teachers crashed in Indonesia's Subang, killing at least 11 people, many of them students on Saturday evening (local time, May 12), The New York Times reported. The students and teachers were returning from a graduation celebration when the ill-fated bus met with the accident.

According to authorities, the accident occurred at around 6.45 pm (local time) when the vehicle was heading from a hilly resort area in Bandung to Depok, West Java. The cause of the accident was still being investigated.

The West Java police said that the bus had sped out of control on a downhill road and crashed into multiple vehicles. According to an initial probe, the bus was apparently not fit for the road and had malfunctioning brakes, the report said.

According to the police, 61 passengers were onboard the bus, nine died at the site of the accident and two died later in a hospital. Among the dead were several students, a teacher and a motorcyclist. Several others were injured and taken to the hospital for treatment, some were in critical condition.

While addressing a news briefing on Sunday, May 12, a West Java police commissioner said that 18 surgeries for serious injuries have been carried out so far. A local television broadcast showed a video of the overturned bus with its shattered windows and frame severely battered, according to The New York Times report.

Not the first time

Road accidents involving multiple fatalities are not uncommon in Indonesia, as hilly terrain and inadequate road lighting lead to hazardous driving conditions that cause regular crashes, The New York Times reported.

Earlier in 2021, as many as 29 people, including middle school students who were returning home from a school trip, were killed in a bus crash.

Police investigations said that malfunctioning brakes were the cause of the accident.

Earlier in 2019, another bus crash killed 35 people when the vehicle fell into a ravine.