Sapporo: A bus and a truck collided on a national road in the town of Yakumo, Hokkaido, northern Japan, around noon Sunday, killing five people, according to local police and other authorities.

The truck is believed to have crashed into the bus, which was traveling in the opposite lane of a two-lane section of National Route 5, local fire officials said.

The intercity highway bus was carrying 15 passengers and the driver from Sapporo, the capital of Hokkaido, to a hot spring resort in the city of Hakodate, according to its operator, Hakodate-based Hokuto Kotsu Inc. All were taken to hospital.

The bus driver, a 64-year-old man, showed no particular problems in an alcohol test and vehicle checks before departure at 7:50 a.m. (10:50 p.m. Saturday GMT), the operator said.

JIJI Press