Forty-two people were injured, two of them seriously, when a tourist bus crashed through guardrails and plunged onto a railway track Sunday in Oita Prefecture, according to police.
The bus, carrying 43 passengers, was passing through the town of Kokonoe when it careered off the road and dropped around 2.7 meters onto the JR Kyudai Line, severely injuring the driver and one of the passengers, the police reported.
Another 40 passengers sustained minor injuries. The bus driver later told police that the brakes had failed.
There was no train on the section of track that the bus crashed down onto. Kyushu Railway Co. (JR Kyushu) has halted services on the Kyudai Line between Yufuin and Bungomori stations.
Operator Johoku Traffic Co. said the bus was returning to Fukuoka Prefecture after a day trip to a ski resort in Kokonoe.