Brazil: 19 dead after overturning bus in …

At least 19 people died and 33 others were injured, nine of them seriously, after a bus overturned on Monday morning on the coast of Paraná, southern state of Brazil, as reported by Brazilian authorities.

Paraná Federal Road Police said the driver of a tourist bus lost control of the vehicle in a sharp bend km 668 of the BR-376 national road, 131 kilometers from Curitiba, the regional capital.

According to the authorities’ account, the bus left the road and fell into a ravine, apparently with no other vehicles involved in the traffic accident. The official report states 19 dead, nine seriously injured and 18 people slightly injured and nine unharmed, including the driver. Two helicopters and several ambulances participated in the rescue efforts, in addition to the staff of the concessionaire company that manages this section of road.

The bus driver was transferred to the Guaratuba civil police station, in charge of the investigations and where he must report on what happened. According to what was stated by Folha do Sao Paulo, the chief of police, Cristiano Quintas, indicated that the driver assured that he did not consume alcoholic drinks and claimed to have noticed a problem with the brakes of the bus.

For its part, the company Turismo Pires da Cruz reported that the bus from its property had left Belem, capital of Pará, last Friday, bound for the tourist resort of Camboriú, in Santa Catarina (south). Two drivers and 53 passengers were traveling there.

The bodies of the victims have been sent to the Curitiba Institute of Forensic Medicine (IML), from where they are to be airlifted to the Amazon. Two planes from the Paraná PM Air Operations Battalion and one from Santa Catarina were deployed to assist with the rescue.

Meanwhile, the injured have been transferred to hospitals in the area. The most serious were sent by plane. Among them are minors.

Helder Barbalho, governor of Pará, regretted what happened and said on his social networks that the state will provide support to the families of the victims: “I immediately asked the Secretary of State Security to contact those responsible for the rescue to identify the victims and provide them with the necessary support. My feelings towards those who lost family members in this terrible accident, ”he said.

Then, he indicated that his government “will charter a plane to bring back the bodies of the victims who died today, to Paraná”, and that “we are also sending teams of Civil Defense, Segup, PC and Renato Chaves to Curitiba, to help and support the relatives and relatives of the victims “.