Horror crash kills 19 & injures 7 after bus ploughed into loose tractor trailer – as victims pulled from ravine
NINETEEN people died and six others were injured when a bus crashed on a highway in Mexico’s central state of Zacatecas on Saturday, local authorities said.
The accident occurred in the early morning hours when the bus carrying the victims collided with the back of a tractor-trailer carrying corn, which had come loose.
Zacatecas Governor David Monreal earlier on Saturday had initially reported a preliminary death toll of 24 people, but the state attorney general’s office later revised the tally in a statement.
The attorney general’s office said it was “carrying out investigations to arrest the driver” of the tractor-trailer.
Efforts were ongoing on Saturday morning to recover some of the bodies that had fallen into a ravine, a local government official.
Images shared on social media showed rescue teams and security forces, including military personnel, securing the area while rescuers worked to recover the bodies.
The bus was headed for Ciudad Juarez, a border city in the state of Chihuahua, though it was not immediately confirmed whether migrants were among the victims.
Road accidents are common and have been on the rise in Mexico since 2020.
There were more than 377,200 related claims made in 2022, according to the National Statistics Institute.
In April, fourteen people died and 31 others injured following a tragic bus crash in Mexico.
The bus overturned on the El Capulín-Chalma highway on the outskirts of the capital on Sunday.
Horror images from the scene showed a large white bus laying on its side, blocking the roadway.
Injured people were reportedly taken to the hospital in “code red”, meaning the death toll may increase.
The passengers on the bus were travelling from Guanajuato to the sanctuary of Chalma for religious reasons, according to local media.
In January, at least 19 people died and 22 people were injured in a head-on collision between a passenger bus and a freight lorry.
Almost 50 people were said to have been on board when disaster struck on a highway in the township of Elota, near the port city of Mazatland in northern Mexico.
The bus had been travelling from the city of Guadalajara, in the western state of Jalisco, to Los Mochis in Sinaloa.
The lorry reportedly overturned when the bus drove into it, causing both vehicles to catch fire.
Last year, at least 29 people were killed in Mexico when a passenger bus careered off a road and plummeted 80 feet into a ravine.
An investigation was launched into the cause of the accident, but early indications suggested it was the result of mechanical failure.
Passengers on the bus were travelling from Mexico City to tiny, remote mountain villages in the impoverished Mixteca region.