SURABAYA, Indonesia, May 16, 2022 (BSS/AFP) - At least 14 people were killed 
and more than a dozen others injured when a bus carrying domestic tourists 
crashed into an advertising sign in Indonesia's East Java province early on 
Monday, police said.

The bus -- which was carrying 31 passengers, the driver and a crew member -- 
hit the pole and then rolled over on a toll road connecting the town of 
Mojokerto to the country's second city, Surabaya. 

The victims were from Benowo, a village near Surabaya, and were returning 
home after a long weekend at popular holiday destination Dieng Plateau, about 
400 kilometres away in Central Java, local official Ridwan Mubarun told 
Indonesian television station Metro TV. 

"Fourteen people have died and 19 others sustained minor and serious 
injuries," Mojokerto police chief Rofiq Ripto Himawan told reporters on 
Monday, adding that authorities were still investigating the cause of the 
accident. 

Earlier, a spokesman for the East Java police blamed the crash on driver 
error. 

"This accident was caused by human error, the driver was exhaused or tired," 
Dirmanto, who goes by a single name, told Metro TV. 

A police report stated that both weather and traffic were clear when the 
accident occurred on Monday morning. 

The driver survived and has been taken to a hospital for his injuries, the 
police report said.

Deadly traffic accidents are common in Indonesia, where vehicles are often 
old or poorly maintained and road rules are routinely ignored. 

Last month, 16 people were killed when a truck carrying miners crashed into a 
cliff in West Papua province, police said. 

In February, 13 people died and dozens more were injured after a tour bus 
carrying factory workers to a popular beach holiday tipped over and crashed 
on Java island, according to police.