Not less than 55 lifeless after Guatemala bus plunges into ravine – Bd24live

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Not less than 55 folks have been killed in Guatemala on Monday when a bus crashed by means of a guard rail and plunged right into a ravine, authorities stated, one of many worst street accidents in Latin America in years.

The bus was carrying round 70 folks when it fell right into a river contaminated with sewage in Guatemala Metropolis, creating tough situations for rescuers making an attempt to retrieve our bodies.

“To date, 53 folks have died on the scene,” a spokesman for the general public prosecutor’s workplace, Moises Ortiz, informed reporters.

Two others died after they have been admitted, together with a number of different folks, to the San Juan de Dios Hospital, spokeswoman Marlyn Perez stated.

The our bodies recovered on the web site have been taken to an improvised morgue in a close-by neighborhood corridor the place a number of distressed relations went, fearing the worst.

Rosa Lopez informed reporters that 4 of her nieces and nephews have been thought to have been on the bus.

“After we heard concerning the accident on the information, we headed straight right here,” the 48-year-old stated.

Injured passengers have been taken to hospitals, a lot of them in critical situation.

Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo expressed sorrow over the tragedy and declared a three-day interval of nationwide mourning.

“In the present day is a tough day for the Guatemalan nation,” he stated.

– Murky waters –

The hearth division stated the driving force apparently misplaced management of the bus and collided with a number of small automobiles earlier than plunging over the precipice.

“The bus stored going, broke by means of 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 informed reporters.

AFPTV photographs confirmed strains of firefighters passing our bodies pulled from the murky waters, which have been full of trash, up the slope on stretchers.

“We’re having a tough time with the rescue work,” stated firefighter Luis Quintanilla.

“We’ve been underwater for greater than three hours making an attempt to rescue the physique of an apparently male one that is trapped between the twisted metallic of the bus,” he stated.

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, authorities stated.

“It’s an enormous tragedy, very painful,” 40-year-old Marbelin Ortiz, a resident of the realm close to the accident web site, informed reporters.

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 have been trying into whether or not the bus was overloaded with passengers.

The general public prosecutor’s workplace stated it had opened an investigation into the crash.

Street accidents resulting in dozens of fatalities are widespread in Central and South America.

In January 2018, 52 folks have been killed in Peru when a bus fell off a cliff onto a seashore north of the capital Lima.

In Brazil, 54 folks have been killed in March 2015 in a vacationer bus crash within the southern state of Santa Catarina.