Two dead after tourist bus overturns on way to Germany’s Oktoberfest

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At least two people were killed and eight others injured when a bus carrying tourists to Munich's Oktoberfest festival swerved off a highway and overturned on Sunday.

The coach left the roadway near the town of Buchloe in Germany's Ostallgäu region at around 6 a.m. local time, according to officials cited by German news agency dpa reported.

Images from the crash site showed the vehicle lying on its side in a wooded area while rescue crews operated nearby.

Martin Cornils, a spokesperson for traffic police in nearby Fürstenfeldbruck, confirmed at the scene that the tour group had been traveling to Oktoberfest, which began eight days prior.

The cause of the crash was not immediately known and remains under investigation.

Although dpa initially reported that the vehicle was traveling from Zurich, Switzerland, to Milan, Italy, officials later clarified that about 35 people were on board—fewer than first estimated—and that all passengers were Filipino nationals. The two bus drivers were unharmed.

The accident follows another fatal crash earlier this month, when five people were killed after a Dutch tour bus crashed in eastern Switzerland.

Forty others were injured when the tour bus slammed into a roadside crash barrier and overturned between the villages of Susch and Zernez in the Alpine canton of Graubünden.

And in another tragedy related to Oktoberfest, a security guard died after being struck by a ride 10 minutes before his shift was scheduled to end.

Aleksandar Spasic, 52, was working at the world-famous beer festival in Germany when he was hit by a descending carriage of the “Hangover” ride. He died at the hospital.

Police launched an investigation into his death and a spokesperson, Thomas Schelshorn, said officers were examining “whether someone can be held responsible.”