AT LEAST 27 people have been killed and more injured after a tourist bus plunged off a hill following an apparent brake failure.

A PACKED tourist bus returning from an outing has collided with a motorbike and plunged off a hill on Indonesia’s main island of Java after its brakes apparently failed, killing at least 27 people.

At least 18 others were transported to hospital with injuries, some in critical condition, following the crash on a winding slope in Subang in West Java province on Saturday,

Television footage showed police, soldiers and medical personnel evacuating the victims from the upside-down bus, which was carrying more than 40 local tourists.

The bus was headed for Tangerang, a satellite city just south of the capital, Jakarta, from West Java’s Tangkuban Perahu, a popular mountainous resort.

Local police chief Muhammad Joni said police were still investigating the cause of the accident, but a preliminary investigation showed the brakes malfunctioned while the bus was going up the hill and rolled down, hitting a motorbike before falling into a grass field.