Tragedy: 25 Killed, 34 Injured In Peru Coach Crash

News Desk

Lima: At least 25 people have been killed since early Monday when a passenger bus veered off a mountainous road and plunged down a 200-metre ravine in southwest Peru’s Huancavelica region, according to local media.

The bus had been travelling north from Ayacucho in the south-central part of the country to Huancayo, the capital of the Junin region, when it crashed around 1:30 a.m. local time (06:30 GMT) on Monday.

The regional government of Ayacucho reported that it had attended to 11 injured passengers at the Huanta Support Hospital. The newspaper ‘La Republica’ estimated that as many as 36 people could be wounded.

“The toll is 25 dead and 34 injured,” informed Defence Minister Jorge Chavez.

#LOÚLTIMO Bus interprovincial de ruta Huancayo – Ayacucho de la empresa Molina Unión sufrió despiste y volcadura cayendo al Río Mantaro. Medios locales informan de más de 20 personas fallecidas.

– Video: Rodito Audaz pic.twitter.com/VoTrPajys0

— Roger García (@RogerAderly) September 18, 2023

Anco district Mayor Manuel Zevallos, told the radio station that the road has been in poor condition for at least a month as a result of an avalanche in the area.

The crash is the latest deadly incident on Peru’s roadways which have seen an increase in traffic-related fatalities due to speeding, poor road conditions, a lack of signage and poor enforcement of traffic rules.

In January, a bus carrying 60 passengers dove off a cliff in northern Peru, killing at least 24 passengers, according to preliminary reports.

In 2021, a string of crashes occurred within a span of four days, including two involving buses. One plunged into a ravine in the country’s southeast, while another toppled off a cliff some 60km (37 miles) from the capital Lima.

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimated 4,414 road fatalities in Peru in 2019, or 13.6 per 100,000 inhabitants.