30 including children hurt as buses collide in Germany

More than 30 people, including children, have been injured in a head-on collision between two public transport buses in the western German city of Saarbrücken, authorities said on Monday.

A police spokesman said that 12 children from a kindergarten group were among the injured and had been taken to hospital. The seriousness of their injuries was unclear, he said.

Around 40 people had been involved in the crash one way or another, the police spokesman added.

Saarbrücken Mayor Uwe Conradt said he had visited the scene, together with Saarland State Interior Minister Reinhold Jost.

"My thoughts are with the injured and their families," he said in a statement. "I wish everyone a speedy and full recovery."

A dpa photographer at the scene said the two buses were in the middle of a junction. The windscreens and fronts of both vehicles were badly damaged. Broken glass and vehicle parts were scattered on the road.

The cause of the accident was not immediately known.

Police and emergency services were still at the cordoned-off scene.

A rescue helicopter was deployed and a drone hovered over the site, which is next to a shopping centre on the outskirts of the city.