GUATEMALA CITY: At the least 51 individuals had been killed in Guatemala Metropolis on Monday when a bus crashed by a guard rail and plunged right into a ravine, rescuers stated, one of many worst highway accidents in Latin America in years.
The municipal fireplace division stated the our bodies of 51 individuals had been retrieved from the wreckage of the bus, which was carrying greater than 70 individuals when it crashed off a bridge right into a river contaminated with effluent.
Victor Gomez, spokesperson for the Volunteer Firefighters group that was concerned within the rescue effort, confirmed that there have been “51 our bodies within the provisional morgue.”
Rescuers had already managed to extricate 10 injured individuals from the wreckage.
Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo expressed sorrow over the tragedy and declared an unspecified interval of nationwide mourning.
“In the present day is a troublesome day for the Guatemalan nation,” he stated.
The hearth division stated the driving force misplaced management of the bus and collided with a number of small autos earlier than plunging over the precipice.
“The bus saved going, broke by a metallic railing, and fell right into a ravine about 20 meters (65 toes) deep till it reached the sewage-contaminated river,” the division’s Carlos Hernandez instructed reporters.
AFPTV photos confirmed traces of firefighters passing our bodies pulled from the murky waters, which had been stuffed with trash, up the slope on stretchers.
Based on native media, the bus was touring to Guatemala Metropolis from the city of San Agustin Acasaguastlan in El Progreso division, about 90 kilometers (56 miles) to the northeast.
Communications Minister Miguel Angel Diaz stated an preliminary investigation confirmed that the bus was 30 years previous however nonetheless had a license to function.
He stated that the reason for the early morning accident was nonetheless unknown and that investigators had been trying into whether or not the bus was overloaded with passengers.
Street accidents resulting in dozens of fatalities are widespread in Central and South America.
In January 2018, 52 individuals had been killed in Peru when a bus fell off a cliff onto a seashore north of the capital Lima.
In Brazil, 54 individuals had been killed in March 2015 in a vacationer bus crash within the southern state of Santa Catarina.
