A city bus ploughed into 32 vehicles waiting at a traffic light during the Wednesday morning rush hour in Bundang, a district of Seongnam city just south of Seoul, injuring 57 people, South Korea's National Fire Agency said. Nine people were seriously injured and 48 suffered minor injuries, and officials said none of the injuries was life-threatening.

Source: Reuters

The crash happened at 7:34 a.m. local time (2234 GMT on Tuesday) in the Yatap-dong area of Bundang Ward. The bus, driven by a man in his 60s, struck four other buses, a cargo truck and 27 passenger cars before it finally stopped against a median barrier, the fire agency said, with the collisions stretching over roughly 100 to 150 metres, Yonhap news agency reported.

Source: Yonhap via Korean Vibe

The National Fire Agency said it deployed 88 emergency personnel and 33 vehicles to the scene and set up an emergency medical station to treat the injured at the roadside. The bus driver was among the seriously injured; broadcaster KBS reported he had to be freed from the wrecked bus and was taken to hospital.

Driver told police the brakes failed, investigators say

The driver told police that the brakes on his bus did not work, Yonhap and the Korea Times reported — a claim investigators have not confirmed. Police said the driver tested negative for alcohol, and officers are examining the bus's black-box recording data and CCTV footage from the intersection to establish the exact cause, SBS reported.

Aju Press, citing police in Bundang, reported that all of the injured were in stable condition by Wednesday afternoon. The pile-up closed the busy commuter road during the morning peak and caused heavy congestion across the Bundang area before the wreckage was cleared.

Bundang is a large planned commuter district of Seongnam in Gyeonggi Province, home to many people who travel into Seoul for work each day, which is why the 7:34 a.m. crash hit such a dense line of stopped traffic.