British tourists were among 43 injured when a bus crashed into trees killing the driver in Laos.

The backpackers were traveling from the capital Vientiane to Pakse when the vehicle veered off the road and sloughed into woodland along the highway.

Footage from the scene shows how the force of the crash caused several trees to be uprooted. The driver is understood to have been hurled into the windscreen and killed instantly. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

The Brits and 24 other holidaymakers from eight other countries were rushed to a hospital in neighbouring Thailand for treatment following the collision in Salavan, Lakhonepheng on January 26 at 5am.

The remaining 19 passengers, mostly foreigners, were transported to Champasak Provincial Hospital.

Officials said that a number of the tourists were in intensive care with serious injuries.

Ubon Ratchathani Governor Adisak Noisuwan said that the large number of patients would require extra doctors and more were drafted in from nearby clinics.

He added: 'Volunteers have been requested to donate blood of all types at Sunpasitthiprasong Hospital.'

Officials said that 10 ambulances and medical personnel transported the crash victims to hospitals.

Three of the transferred victims were critically injured, nine sustained moderate injuries, and 14 had minor injuries.

Adisak reported that 26 injured victims were transferred to hospitals in Ubon Ratchathani, with 19 being sent to Princ Hospital Ubonratchathani, five to Sunpasitthiprasong Hospital, and two to Ubonrak Thonburi Hospital.

Among those transferred were one British man and one woman, along with three Israeli men and nine Israeli women, five French women and one French man and a Taiwanese couple.

Additionally, a Laotian man, a Belgian woman, a Portuguese woman, a Spanish woman, and a Vietnamese woman were also sent to hospitals.

Adisak insisted that all patients were under the care of medical specialists and were in stable condition.

He thanked the emergency services for providing ambulances and relaying information, as well as to the locals who donated blood.

The governor added: 'The officials and medical staff at hospitals cooperated and showed efficiency in receiving patients in an emergency.'