At the very least 51 folks have died after a bus veered off a freeway bridge right into a polluted ravine in Guatemala Metropolis, leaving survivors trapped within the wreckage.
The densely packed bus was carrying greater than 70 folks on the time of the accident early on Monday morning. It was touring into the capital from the city of San Agustín Acasaguastlán when it plunged roughly 20 metres (66ft) from Puente Belice, a freeway bridge that crosses over a street and creek.
A spokesperson, Carlos Hernandez, stated the our bodies of 36 males and 15 ladies had been despatched to a provincial morgue arrange for the accident.
Pictures shared by the hearth division on social media confirmed the bus partially submerged in wastewater surrounded by victims’ our bodies.
Guatemala’s president, Bernardo Arévalo, declared three days of nationwide mourning and deployed the nation’s military and catastrophe company to help response efforts.
“I stand in solidarity with the households of the victims who in the present day woke as much as heartbreaking information. Their ache is my ache,” Arévalo stated on social media.
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 way of a steel railing, and fell right into a ravine about 20 metres (65ft) deep till it reached the sewage-contaminated river,” the division’s Carlos Hernandez advised reporters.
AFPTV photographs confirmed strains of firefighters passing our bodies pulled from the murky waters, which had been crammed with trash, up the slope on stretchers.
The communications minister, Miguel Angel Diaz, stated an preliminary investigation confirmed that the bus was 30 years outdated however nonetheless had a license to function.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 frequent in Central and South America.
With reporting by Reuters and Agence France-Press
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