20-01-2016 07:00

A coach carrying participants in a ski tour has crashed in Japan, killing 14 people and injuring another 27. The bus strayed onto the wrong side of the road and smashed through a guardrail, sliding several metres down the mountainside.

It is not immediately clear what caused the crash, as there was no snow or ice on the road. Japan’s transport ministry has launched an investigation into what happened.

Japanese chief cabinet secretary, Yoshihide Suga, said that the latest information was that of the 41 people on board, no one escaped unharmed, and that there would be an investigation into what fully happened, and that the government will look to prevent accidents like this, first of all look into the cause of the accident and implement safety measures.

At the horrific sight where the bus came off the road a crowd of people had gathered trying to see what had happened.

According to Japanese media, the bus crashed at 1:55 a.m. locally and the two drivers were among those killed.

Difficult words: coach (a bus used for longer journeys), ski tour (skiing across open country), stray (o tmove away from the correct course), unharmed (not injured), implement (to put into effect), measure (something that you do to achieve something), gather (to come).

Source: www.ondemandnews.com