(LEAD) traffic accident-death

(LEAD) 4 dead, 3 seriously injured in bus-van crash inside tunnel in central region

(ATTN: CHANGES headline, lead; UPDATES throughout with more details)

BOEUN, South Korea, Oct. 21 (Yonhap) -- A tourist bus crashed with a van inside an expressway tunnel Saturday, killing four people and leaving three seriously hurt, officials said.

The 15-seat van was traveling inside Suriti Tunnel along the Dangjin–Yeongdeok Expressway in Boeun, 135 kilometers southeast of Seoul, when the tourist bus rear-ended it at 8:55 a.m., police officials said.

The accident left four of the van's 11 passengers dead. Two were pronounced dead at the scene, while the others died while being treated for injuries at a hospital.

The seven remaining passengers in the van also sustained injuries, two of them seriously.

Officials said all 11 passengers were friends on a weekend outing.

From the bus, one of the 26 passengers was seriously hurt, and the driver sustained a minor injury.

The police have booked the bus driver on charges of reckless driving causing death and injury, as they are investigating the exact cause of the crash.

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