A bus ploughed into dozens of vehicles waiting at a traffic light in Bundang, just south of Seoul, on Wednesday morning, leaving more than 50 people injured, nine of them seriously.

The crash happened at about 7.34am in Yatap-dong, in Seongnam city in Gyeonggi Province, during the morning rush hour. The bus struck vehicles over a stretch of roughly 100 to 150 metres before hitting a traffic barrier, in a chain-reaction crash involving 32 vehicles, including four other buses, a truck and 27 passenger cars.

Nine seriously hurt, none in danger

Nine people, including the bus driver, were seriously injured, while 48 others suffered minor injuries. Police said none of the injuries was considered life-threatening and all of those hurt were in a stable condition. Many of the injured were passengers on the buses caught up in the crash.

The fire agency sent 88 personnel and 33 vehicles to the scene and set up an emergency medical station to treat the injured.

Police investigate cause

The driver, a man in his 60s, was injured and taken to hospital after being freed from the vehicle. He told investigators that the brakes had failed. An initial breath test showed he had not been drinking, but police plan to check whether he had taken drugs, and will examine black-box recordings and CCTV footage to establish the exact cause.