Taipei (AFP) – Seventeen people were feared dead and 15 were seriously injured after a tour bus careered off a highway in Taiwan.

The national fire department said 17 passengers “showed no signs of life” and the 15 seriously injured were being treated in hospital after the bus of what were believed to be local tourists veered off a highway in eastern Taipei.

Twelve more passengers were still being rescued from the crash scene, the fire department said.