At least 43 killed as bus crashes in Guatemala

PanARMENIAN.Net - At least 43 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, according to Reuters.

Rescue workers said the bus, which plunged off of a paved highway about 60 km (37 miles) northwest of Guatemala City, was destroyed and more than 40 people were taken to hospitals for treatment.

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 conditions were dry and mostly sunny and that the bus was likely over capacity.

"The bus was overloaded," said Sergio Vasquez, a volunteer firefighter at the site. He said 38 people died at the scene, including six children and 12 women. Five more died at hospitals, he said.

Local television said many passengers were vendors taking farm produce to market. The government declared three days of national mourning.

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.

Last week, 13 people were killed when a bus fell into a gorge after hitting a roadside tree in southern India. The accident occurred in the hilly Malappuram area of Kerala state. Another 25 people were injured in the accident, which happened after the driver lost control of the bus

In July, 39 people were killed and another 19 were injured in a bus crash near the town of Monteforte Irpino in Italy. The bus carrying pilgrims to their home from a visit to a Catholic shrine fell nearly 100 feet off the bridge on a road east of Naples. The bus carried nearly 50 passengers.

29 people have been killed and 12 injured after a bus veered off a narrow mountain road in thick fog in western Nepal in January. The vehicle fell 600 meters down a steep hill. Accidents are relatively common on Nepal's highways because of poor roads, badly maintained vehicles and reckless driving, and death tolls running into double figures are frequent. In September last year, 27 people were killed when a bus veered off a mountain road in western Nepal, while 38 pilgrims died on an overcrowded bus carrying them from India to a Hindu festival in southern Nepal two months earlier.