20 people injured in minibus crash in southwest Japan

TOKYO - A minibus crashed into a telephone pole on Thursday in Japan's southwestern prefecture of Fukuoka, injuring 20 people, local media reported.

All 19 passengers, most of them foreign nationals, and the driver were taken to hospital after the minibus crashed on a straight road around two kilometers northeast of Fukuoka Airport at around 6:30 am local time, Kyodo News said, citing local police and firefighters.

They were conscious and did not have life-threatening injuries, it added.

The driver, a man in his 60s, said he had dozed off at the wheel and suddenly swerved the bus to avoid another vehicle, according to police.

Police were investigating whether the accident was a case of negligent driving causing injury, a road traffic law violation, the report said.