Minibus 'caused Austrian crash'

The coach left the road and rolled three times down a bank

An overtaking minibus caused Tuesday's coach crash in Austria in which five Britons were killed, according to preliminary police investigations.

Police believe an oncoming car forced the minibus to swerve into the bus and then the car, tour firm Inghams said.

The bus rolled three times down a bank at Bad Duerrnberg, near Hallein, south of Salzburg, and landed on its roof.

Austrian authorities have confirmed the dead were three women and two men, a BBC correspondent said.

At least 40 of the 49 people on board the coach - 42 of whom were British - were injured and five Britons remain in intensive care.

Police said none of the three drivers involved in the accident had tested positive for drugs or alcohol but investigators are still questioning the minibus driver.

HOW THE CRASH HAPPENED

1 Minibus overtakes coach after rounding a bend.
2 Minibus swerves to avoid oncoming car.
3 Coach veers off road and rolls 30m down an embankment.

UK Foreign Office minister Denis MacShane offered his sympathies to those affected by the accident.

"To those involved and their families I send my sympathies and the assurance that the Foreign Office will continue to do all it can to help them."

He said British consular staff in Austria had been to the crash scene and were visiting the injured in hospitals.

London-based tour operator Inghams, which organised the trip, said authorities in Austria would not be releasing the names of the dead and injured until DNA tests had been carried out and the results were known.

Survivors

Dr Nicholas Matis, from one of the local hospitals, told the BBC he expected crash victims who were in a serious condition to remain in Austria over the next few days.

But he added the death toll was not expected to rise.

He said some of the 11 patients at his hospital - four of whom were children - had suffered cuts from glass, some had fractures and two were being treated in intensive care.

In pictures: Austria crash Family recalls coach crash horror

Inghams said it was arranging for survivors to return home on Wednesday if they wanted to.

It said it had also flown around 20 relatives of the passengers involved in the accident to Salzburg.

A spokesman said there were 49 people on the six-year-old Setra bus, not 46 as previously thought.

Of those, there were 42 Britons, three Germans, two Russians, the Inghams representative - who is Australian - and the Austrian driver.

'Trapped'

The company is sending out more senior staff on Thursday to help the passengers.

The accident happened at 1630 local time (1530 BST) on Tuesday, on a winding mountain road in a popular tourist region in the Austrian Alps.

One Briton, who survived the crash with cuts and bruises, told the Daily Mail newspaper he had heard a "screech and a bang" before the coach left the road and landed on its roof.

Peter Davies, 27, from Shropshire said: "I managed to crawl out of a gap where the windows should have been.

"I tried to help where I could but there wasn't much we could do. There were people trapped but we couldn't pull them out."

Inghams said most of the passengers were on one of its excursions to Berchtesgaden and had been staying at the resorts of St Wolfgang, Traunkirchen and Fuschl.

He ran to the front of the coach and turned off the engine because diesel was dropping onto everyone Coach survivor helps save lives

The most badly injured are being treated in Salzburg's two main hospitals, the Landeskrankenhaus and the Unfallkrankenhaus.

Others were taken to smaller units in the city or in Hallein, with a number already said to have been released.

The Foreign Office has set up a 24-hour emergency number for members of the public to contact if they think they may have had friends or relatives involved in the crash.

The number is 020 7008 1500.

A hotline opened by Inghams can be reached on 020 8780 6600.