Police in the central state of Hesse said on Tuesday that four people had died and more than 40 others were injured when the bus that they were traveling in crashed though a guard rail and tumbled around 50 meters (164 feet) down a hill, rolling several times before coming to rest on its wheels. The windows of the bus were smashed and its roof partially flattened in the process.

A police spokesman said it wasn't yet clear whether any survivors or bodies were trapped underneath the bus.

A spokesperson for the travel company that had hired the bus said the passengers were a group of seniors from the southwestern state of Baden-Württemberg who were on their way to the eastern city of Leipzig.

Skidding car

A preliminary investigation indicated that the driver lost control of the bus after it was hit by a car that had gone into a skid. A police spokesman said it wasn't immediately clear why the driver of the car had lost control of his vehicle as it was travelling east along the Autobahn 4 motorway between the Kirchheim and Bad Hersfeld.

Traffic on the Autobahn was stopped as five helicopters were called in to take the injured to hospital.

pfd/es (dpa, AFP)