These massive accidents seem to only occur in third-world countries. It’s a real shame that women and children had to die in this latest mishap… TGO
Refer to story below. Source: Reuters
GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) – At least 38 people were killed and dozens injured on Monday when a bus went off a cliff on a hairpin bend in rural Guatemala, tumbling some 200 meters (660 feet) into a river at the bottom of a ravine, officials said.
Rescue workers said that the bus, which plunged off of a paved highway roughly 60 km (37 miles) northwest of Guatemala City, was completely destroyed and that 46 people had been taken to nearby hospitals to be treated for injuries.
Investigators do not yet know what caused the crash or what was the final destination of the bus, which was traveling south toward Guatemala City. Rescue workers said that conditions were dry and mostly sunny and that the bus was likely over capacity.
“There are 38 dead, among them six children and 12 women,” said Sergio Vasquez, a volunteer firefighter at the site of the accident.
Local television said many of those on the bus were vendors taking farm produce to market.
The last major bus accident in Guatemala occurred in 2008 when an overcrowded bus slid off a highway and down a 15-meter (50-foot) slope some 65 km (40 miles) southeast of the capital, killing 53.
(Reporting by Mike McDonald; Editing by Eric Beech)
