British coach crashes in Belgium, 5 seriously hurt

BRUSSELS, June 10 (Reuters) A British coach carrying holidaymakers crashed into a house in Belgium today, seriously injuring five people on board, police said.

''Five people have been taken to hospital. No one is in a life-threatening condition, although one could lose an arm,'' a spokesman from Middelkerke police said, adding a further 19 people were lightly injured.

The crash took place near the village of Slijpe, 10 km (6 miles) southwest of the coastal town of Ostend.

The police spokesman from nearby Middelkerke said the coach had struck a house as it tried to avoid an oncoming car at a bridge. The seriously injured were the coach co-driver and four passengers. The passengers were pensioners from Kent in southeast England, he said.

Leger Holidays, the company running the coach tour, said the coach, carrying 35 passengers and 2 crew, was returning to Britain after a 9-day tour of Prague, Vienna and Budapest.

The car's driver and passenger and three people in the house were among those lightly injured, who were treated on the spot.

The seriously injured were taken to three nearby hospitals.

Britain's Foreign Office in London said it was aware of the accident and consular officials were heading to the scene.

REUTERS RJ RK2055