LIMA, PERU: Authorities in the hilly Ayacucho region of Peru reported that a bus slid off a cliff on Tuesday, killing at least 16 passengers.
In the Andes, where catastrophes like this one are frequent occurrences, the bus was transporting over forty people.
Reporters were informed by Ayacucho official Wiber Vega that three additional dead were still beneath the bus and that thirteen had already been discovered. Yes, he continued, “we have sixteen dead.”
According to Vega, inclement weather, including hail, was causing delays in the retrieval of the surviving remains.
According to a statement from the health ministry, the bus was going in a zigzag pattern on the Libertadores highway when it crashed early on Tuesday, heading from Lima to the city of Ayacucho.
The bus flipped over and came to rest upside down, rolling down a hill.
In Peru, these kinds of incidents are common because, among other things, drivers speed excessively on badly maintained highways.
A bus in the Cajamarca area collapsed down a ravine on April 30, resulting in the deaths of at least 25 persons.
According to the Ministry of Transportation, 3,138 people died in road accidents in Peru in total in 2023.
Official data indicates that human factors, such as driver weariness or ineptitude, account for 70% of accidents.