At least 10 tourists die in bus crash on Brazilian highway

Security personnel check the area where a bus accident took place at the km 300 of the Penha Regis Bittencourt Highway, near Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Dec 22, 2013. [Xinhua]

At least 10 people were killed and 42 others injured early Friday when a tourist bus crashed into a concrete pillar on a highway in Brazil's state of Sao Paulo, said local police and medical services.

The bus carrying tourists was en route from the city of Itapeva to Aparecida, where Brazil's largest Catholic sanctuary is located.

According to a Civil Defense spokesman cited by the news network Globonews, the injured, five of whom are in serious condition, are being treated in medical centers in the cities of Sorocaba and Itapetininga.

The tragedy occurred at the 171-km point of the Professor Francisco da Silva Pontes Highway (SP-127), when the double-decker vehicle crashed into a viaduct pillar.

According to a statement from the Sao Paulo State Transport Agency, the driver survived and said he was driving normally, but the bus suffered a mechanical breakdown that caused the steering wheel to lock.

Due to this malfunction, the driver said he could not control the vehicle and crashed into the concrete pillar.