Police Commissioner, Fuiavailili Egon Keil, has confirmed that the Lady Samoa which crashed at Auala on Monday was overloaded.

Speaking to the Samoa Observer, he confirmed that speeding was a contributing factor. He also confirmed there were more than 50 passengers on the bus when the driver lost control and the bus flipped.

 The majority of them were students.

In Samoa, a bus can only take on maximum load of 33 passengers.

The Commissioner confirmed that a Police investigation has been launched to determine the cause of a bus crash, which hospitalised more than 20 passengers on Monday.

“I can’t say much about what happened,” the Commissioner told the Samoa Observer.

“I have the facts but the investigation is pending and we are waiting for the results.

“But I can confirm that no one died from the incident. I do know that those who were severely injured have been transferred to the hospital at Moto’otua for treatment.”

The rest of the injured passengers are being treated at the Sataua District hospital and the Tuasivi hospital in Savai'i.

Attempts are being made to get a comment from the Ministry of Health.

The crash in question occurred at Auala on Monday morning.

Pictures showed that the Lady Samoa bus has been completely written off.

Most of the passengers on the bus were students attending the Itu Asau College; many of them were on their way for the last day of the mid-year exams.

The College Principal, Fetuao Tuua Tamala, told the Samoa Observer the students had one more exam to sit.

As a result of the crash, she said they are giving the students time to "recover" and regain their strength before they can sit the exam.

In the meantime, the Police Commissioner said he isn’t aware of the number of crash victims who were transferred to Apia for treatment.

He also confirmed that no one has been charged yet.

The bus driver was injured during the crash, the Commissioner said.