Fourteen people were killed and dozens injured when their bus plunged off a mountain road in Japan on its way to a ski resort, in the country's worst such accident for 25 years.
Young skiers -- many in their teens or early 20s -- were asleep on the bus when it careened off the road before dawn in the resort town of Karuizawa.
"I heard people screaming 'Oh no, oh no' and then it hit the guard rail," a 22-year-old college student told broadcaster NHK. "Injured people were everywhere. I had to cover my eyes at the scene."
A 19-year-old survivor who was knocked unconscious in the crash told the broadcaster: "The bus was swaying right and left at massive speed. It was turning in an abnormal manner."
He said the next thing he had been aware of was the carnage after the smash.
"Someone woke me up and I saw a number of people being carried on stretchers. I feel very sad and I still can't imagine it was real."
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Media said the passengers ranged in age from 18 to 32, and most were university students.
The travel agency that arranged the tour said that the bus was not on its originally-scheduled route.