Bus Crash Inferno Leaves 18 Dead, Dozens Injured

A bus burst into flames after it collided with a truck on a highway in southern Germany Monday. 
 
Police say 18 people are dead and 30 more are seriously injured.
    
The bus rear-ended a trailer-truck at the end of a traffic jam on the A-9 highway in Bavaria.

Rescue crews sifted through what was left of the bus looking for survivors. It was carrying nearly 50 people, most of whom were between the ages of 40 and 80. 

When firefighters first arrived on the scene, the blaze was too hot to go near the burning bus to rescue those stuck inside, Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt told reporters at the crash site. 

"All they could do was extinguish the fire," he told Independent. "The heat was so intense that it destroyed the entire bus and everything inside except for the steel frame."

The trailer-truck was also incinerated by the blaze, but the lone driver walked away unharmed. 

German Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed her condolences to the victims' families and those who were wounded.

"Our thoughts, in these hours, are with the families of the victims and we heartily wish all those who were injured a speedy recovery," she said.