Shock in Peru: at least 29 dead from bus fall to cliff

At least 29 passengers died, including a baby, and another twenty were injured After falling off a cliff, a bus heading to Lima in the early hours of Tuesday, according to police. Peru.

“29 bodies have been recovered so far, we are awaiting the arrival of a crane “ to move the bus, said Major Freddy Loarte, who heads the rescue and is commissioner of San Mateo, a town close to the scene of the accident, in Channel N from television.

The initial death toll was 17, but has grown to 26 and now 29. This is the third transport accident that leaves many victims in Peru in the last four days.

The accident occurred on a narrow section of the central road, which connects Lima to the Peruvian central Sierra, near Matucana, 60 kilometers east of the capital.

“We still have work to do, we must remove the bus,” added Major Loarte, insinuating that the number of deceased could increase.

The bus was carrying 63 passengers and had left Huanuco (300 kilometers northeast of the capital) with Lima as a destination final.

“Unfortunately there was a minor of six years (among the dead) and there are two other minors injured ”, said the general commander of the police, César Cervantes. He added that “the imprudence” is one of the causes of the accident, because the driver “was driving great speed”.

The bus Hit a rock and he got lost by falling into an abyss of about 200 meters deep, Towards the Rímac basin, depending on the version of some passengers.

Police and firefighters “continue to search for and rescue the injured and the bodies of the dead after the accident on the central highway this morning. Relief work will continue for the rest of the day, ”police also posted on Twitter. Rescuers evacuated the wounded to hospitals in Matucana and Chosica, the towns closest to the scene of the tragedy.

The accident this Tuesday was the third of public transport Peruvian leaving many victims in the last four days. The Sunday latest 14 people died and an undetermined amount is still missing after the collision of two boats on a river in the Amazon Peruvian. And two days before a bus fell into a ravine on an Andean road in the south-east of the country and 17 people died.

Accidents on Peruvian roads are frequent due to speeding, poor road conditions, lack of signage and poor control by the authorities.