A bus carrying university students back to their campus smashed into a minivan in northern Malaysia on Monday, killing at least 15 people, police and rescue services said.

Thirteen victims died at the scene near the town of Gerik, on the busy East-West Highway near the Thai border, while two died in hospital.

The accident is the deadliest in more than a decade on Malaysia’s hazardous roads.

“It looked like the bus had lost control and hit the (minivan) from behind,” Perak State Police Chief Hisam Nordin said.

Images from the scene taken by the fire and rescue department showed a green bus overturned on its right side with a smashed rear end cover, while the red minivan had slid into a ditch, with its windows blown out.

“Some victims managed to get out on their own, some victims were thrown out while others were still (trapped) in the bus,” the Perak state disaster management authority said in a statement.

Rescuers had to use a hydraulic cutter to free people from the bus.

The death toll included 14 students from the Sultan Idris Education University, while the last victim was a bus attendant, the emergency services said.

Thirty-three others were injured, with seven in critical condition taken to hospital, it added.

Most of the victims were aged between 21 and 23. They were travelling from the town of Jerteh in northeastern Malaysia when the accident happened shortly after 1:00 am (1700 GMT on Sunday).