At least 18 people lost their lives in a tragic accident in western Mexico on Thursday. The incident occurred when a passenger bus veered off a highway and fell into a ravine, according to state officials. The majority of the passengers were foreigners, with some of them en route to the US border.
The bus was carrying approximately 42 passengers, including individuals from India, the Dominican Republic, and various African nations, all bound for the northern border town of Tijuana.
Authorities have detained the bus driver, suspecting him of driving at excessive speed around a bend in the road. As of Thursday afternoon, officials were still working to identify the victims who perished in the accident.
About 20 individuals have been transported to the hospital for treatment, and one woman’s condition has been described as “delicate,” according to the state government. The crash, involving a vehicle from the Elite passenger line, occurred near Barranca Blanca on the highway outside of Tepic, the state capital.
Rescue operations have proven to be extremely challenging due to the ravine’s depth, which measures roughly 40 meters (131 ft), mentioned Jorge Benito Rodriguez, security and civil protection secretary for Nayarit.
Neither the bus company nor Mexico’s migration institute have yet responded to requests for comment. This accident follows previous incidents in Mexico, including a bus crash in Oaxaca in which 29 people were killed last month, and another crash in central Mexico in February that claimed the lives of 17 migrants from South and Central America.
(Reporting by Mexico Newsroom; Writing by Sarah Morland and Isabel Woodford; Editing by Alison Williams and Christopher Cushing)
Credit: The Star : News Feed
