STOCKHOLM: Three people have died and 19 others were injured after a bus carrying students to a ski resort crashed in central Sweden, rescue officials said. Rescue services spokesman Peter Nystedt said six of the 19 injured students are in a serious condition. A total of 31 others suffered minor injuries.

The 52 high-school students were en route to a ski resort with seven adults, including the driver, when the accident occurred on a motorway south of Sveg, a small town 260 miles north-west of the capital Stockholm.

The cause of the accident was not immediately known but the road reportedly was icy when the accident occurred about 7am local time.

Pictures showed the bus lying on its side in a ditch beside the highway.

Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said the accident "leaves me and the whole country in sorrow".