Photographs show double-decker bus lying on its side with its roof torn off near Tai Po

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

At least 19 people have been killed and dozens injured after a double-decker bus overturned in Hong Kong.

Photographs published by local news media showed the bus lying on its side with its roof torn off near the town of Tai Po in the northern New Territories.

Rescuers were attempting to reach passengers trapped in the wreckage, although police were unable to say how many were still inside.

The dead included 17 men and two women, police said. It was not immediately known what caused the incident.

Deadly accidents are rare on Hong Kong’s public transport system, which it promotes as among the best in the world.

The city’s worst road traffic accident occurred in 2003 when a double-decker bus collided with a truck and plunged from a bridge, killing 21 people. In 2008, 18 people were killed in another bus crash.

The safety of Hong Kong’s waterways came under scrutiny after 39 people were killed when a high-speed ferry and a pleasure boat crashed in 2012.