Ten injured in Swiss scout bus collision

Ten people were injured after a tour bus carrying Swiss scouts collided with a public bus in Suncheon, South Jeolla, on Wednesday afternoon, according to local authorities.

The front windshield and bumper of a tour bus that was carrying Swiss scouts is smashed after colliding with a public bus in Suncheon, South Jeolla, on Wednesday afternoon. [NEWS1]

Ten people were injured after a tour bus carrying Swiss scouts collided with a public bus in Suncheon, South Jeolla, on Wednesday afternoon, according to local authorities.

The accident occurred at 12:46 p.m. in front of a youth training center where the scouts camped outside on Tuesday night after departing the World Scout Jamboree campsite in Buan County, North Jeolla, ahead of the expected landfall of Typhoon Khanun.

The scouts had just started their journey to Seoul on the tour bus when it collided with the local public bus.

According to local authorities, 38 people were aboard the tour bus, including 36 members of the Swiss scout delegation, their guide and the bus driver, while five people were aboard the public bus, including the driver.

Five people, including the driver, were injured aboard the tour bus carrying the Swiss scout delegation, while all five people on the public bus were injured, according to local authorities.

Officials did not specify what kind of injuries they had suffered.

Photos taken at the accident scene showed that the front windshields and bumpers of both buses had been smashed in the collision.

Local emergency personnel transported those injured to a local hospital. Police are investigating the exact cause of the accident.

BY MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]