BERLIN, (AFP) -- Emergency workers have retrieved 11 bodies so far from a bus crash Monday in southern Germany, Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt said, adding that work was ongoing to find another seven people who are believed dead.

The flames that engulfed the bus "were so strong that only steel parts are still recognisable on the bus, and from that you can understand what it means for the people on this bus," he said, adding that the remains of "11 people have been recovered" so far.