PROSECUTORS yesterday opened an investigation of a German woman whose car hit a Polish tourist bus, triggering a crash that left 13 people dead and another 38 injured.

Potsdam prosecutor's spokesman Ralf Roggenbuck told The Associated Press that his office was investigating the 37-year-old driver of the red Mercedes believed to have caused Sunday's crash on suspicion of involuntary manslaughter.

"We assume that some kind of driver error was the cause for the crash," he said.

The name of the Berlin woman who drove the car was not released.

Both the Mercedes and the bus have been impounded by authorities who were examining them yesterday for evidence, while both the passengers of the Mercedes have given witness statements, Roggenbuck said. The driver suffered serious injuries in the crash and has not yet been interviewed.

"With today's technology we will be able to determine exactly how the accident occurred," Roggenbuck said, adding that the investigation would probably last at least two weeks.

The tour bus was on its way back to Poland from Spain when it crashed on a highway outside Berlin Sunday. Police said the Mercedes hit the bus as the car merged onto the highway, causing the bus to hit a bridge abutment.

"Our bus was going straight on the highway and then from around a curve a red car came suddenly," tour organizer Ewa Kramek told TVN24 news in an interview from her hospital room where she was treated for a broken elbow. "Our driver was trying to avoid it, to escape to the left side. We were under an overpass, and then it hit hard on the left side."

Bettina Schramm, a police spokeswoman, said 18 people suffered serious injuries in the Sunday crash and a further 20 lighter wounds. They were taken to more than a dozen hospitals.

• yesterday [´jestədi] n.&ad.昨天；前不久 (初中英语单词)
• investigation [in,vesti´geiʃən] n.调查(研究) (初中英语单词)
• suspicion [sə´spiʃən] n.怀(猜)疑；嫌疑 (初中英语单词)
• berlin [bə:´lin] n.柏林 (初中英语单词)
• witness [´witnis] n.见证人 vt.目击 (初中英语单词)
• highway [´haiwei] n.公路，大道 (初中英语单词)
• interview [´intəvju:] n.&vt.接见；会见；交谈 (初中英语单词)
• tourist [´tuərist] n.游客，观光者 (高中英语单词)
• poland [´pəulənd] n.波兰 (高中英语单词)
• polish [´pəuliʃ] a.波兰(人)的 n.波兰语 (英语四级单词)
• bridge [bridʒ] n.桥(梁)；鼻梁；桥牌 (英语四级单词)
• trying [´traiiŋ] a.难堪的；费劲的 (英语四级单词)
• spokesman [´spəuksmən] n.发言人 (英语六级单词)
• involuntary [in´vɔləntəri] a.无意识的；非自愿的 (英语六级单词)