(2nd LD) At least 12 dead as bus falls off elevated motorway in Incheon

(ATTN: RECASTS throughout to UPDATE with latest death toll; CHANGES dateline to
Incheon, number of passengers to 24)
INCHEON, July 3 (Yonhap) -- An express bus carrying two dozen people plunged off
an elevated motorway while trying to avoid a crash with a truck near South
Korea's longest bridge on Saturday, killing at least 12 people and injuring 12
others, police said.
The bus was heading to Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, when it
hurtled through a guardrail and fell about 10 meters into a construction site
under the motorway at around 1:20 p.m., they said.
Television footage showed the badly wrecked vehicle lying upside down.
Police said the bus appeared to have lost control while trying to dodge a 1-ton
truck that was also swerving to avoid colliding with a broken subcompact car
standing in the middle of the road near a tollgate leading to the Incheon Bridge.

The bodies of the 12 dead were taken to nearby hospitals where three of them were
later identified as Seol Hae-yong, 60, Lim Chan-ho, 42, and Lee Shi-hyung, 46,
police said.
Police said they were trying to identify the other victims.
The 12 injured were under treatment at three nearby hospitals, they said.
The bus had departed from the southeastern port city of Pohang earlier in the day.
The 21.38-kilometer Incheon Bridge is South Korea's longest. It opened to traffic
last October to connect Yeongjong Island, where the airport is located, and the
Songdo free economy zone in the city's west coast.
(END)

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