Lima, Sept 18 (EFE).- At least 24 people died and 21 more were injured when a passenger bus plunged down a precipice in a remote area of Huancavelica department in the southern Peruvian Andes early Monday morning, official sources said.
The accident occurred about 650 kilometers southwest of Lima at around 01:30 local time on Monday when the bus, for unknown reasons, plunged down a more than 200-meter cliff.
A representative of the Molina Union company, owner of the vehicle, confirmed to Canal N the high number of fatal victims of the accident and said that the company is “handling it from the first moment “.
“At the moment we know that there are 24 dead,” said the spokeswoman, Angie Cabrera.
The official Andina news agency added that firefighters and police arrived at the scene.
The injured were taken to health centers in Huancavelica and the neighboring region of Ayacucho.
Local media reported that 12 injured were treated and released, while nine others were transferred to a larger hospital in Huanta and at least one arrived in serious condition.
Manuel Zevallos, mayor of Anco, a district very close to where the accident occurred, told RPP radio that the stretch of road where the accident happened was damaged by an avalanche almost a month ago and had not received any maintenance.
“The Transport Ministry never took a look at it (…) and basically as a result we have an accident,” he said.
Accidents of this magnitude are common on Peru’s, mostly caused by the recklessness of drivers, the poor condition of roads and vehicles, and the rugged geography.
According to the National Road Safety Council, approximately 3,000 people die and 55,000 are injured in road accidents in Peru every year. EFE
dub/ics
