At least 19 were killed and over 40 injured in a high-speed bus crash in Hong Kong on Saturday, reports AP.
The report adds that out of the deceased, 17 were male passengers, while two were female.
Television footage showed the mangled remains of the bus as it lay toppled on the side of a major highway in the northern reaches of the city. Firefighters on the scene cut open the bus roof to free passengers still trapped inside.
Some victims were laid out nearby beneath sheets by emergency workers.
Police said at least 19 people, which included 17 men and 2 women, had been confirmed dead on the scene. Dozens more were hurt, some sitting hunched on the highway with blood streaming from their injuries.
One elderly man interviewed on television said the driver had been going extremely fast at the time of the accident, even taking bends at high speed.
Deadly accidents are rare on the southern Chinese city's public transport system, which it promotes as one of the best infrastructures in the world, reports PTI.
The city's worst road traffic accidents included one that took place in 2003 when a double-decker bus collided with a truck and plunged from a bridge, killing 21 people and another in 2008, when 18 people died in another bus crash, the report adds.
An executive surnamed So, with The Kowloon Motor Bus Company that operated the bus, said HKD 80,000 (USD 10,230) in financial assistance would be paid to the families of each victim. The company said that it would also set up an investigation team to probe the cause of the crash.
(With inputs from Reuters)
(This is a developing copy and will be updated)