No injuries as bus full of students overturns near Gresik

No one was injured when a bus carrying almost 50 students overturned on the toll road near Romokalisari, East Java, on Monday morning.

The students, from Mualimat Gresik junior high school, were returning from Gresik to Surabaya from a religious field trip.

"Everyone has been evacuated, and fortunately, no lives were lost. A couple of passengers experienced minor injuries, and everyone was in tears due to shock," Adj. Comr. Anwar Sujito, chief of the East Java Police toll road unit, said.

The bus driver, Arif Hermawan, 37, a resident of Ngadiluwih Kediri, reportedly succumbed to fatigue and lost control of the bus on a winding and slippery section of road about 500 meters away from an exit.

According to Anwar, the bus hit the shoulder and overturned in the middle of the road, smashing windows and squeezing the passengers together.

"It happened right on top of the bridge by the Romokalisari exit. All the passengers were evacuated, while the bus driver and crew are being questioned," Anwar said.

Police closed the toll road exit at Romakalisari, re-routing traffic towards Kebomas, Gresik.

"The other alternative was that some cars were re-routed towards the exit at Tandes Timur. Throughout the evacuation process, the toll road was closed," Anwar said.

A tow truck righted the bus to evacuate passengers and would later tow the bus to the police station on the toll road for investigation, he added.