25 Dead as Bus Falls on Highway in the Andes Mountains of Peru
The health department of Ayacucho region in Peru announced that at least 25 people were killed and 17 others injured after a bus fell from a road in the high Andes mountains.
Johnny Rolando Valderrama, head of the highway protection department, told the state news agency Andina that the bus veered off a highway in the Ayacucho region at dawn, overturned, and fell from a height of about 200 meters, according to Reuters.
He added that the accident occurred on the Los Libertadores highway in Ayacucho, south-central Andes, and rescue operations are ongoing. A senior police officer stated that initial information indicates there were 42 passengers on the bus.
Bus accidents are common in Peru, where many buses travel on rugged mountainous roads or are driven by inadequately trained drivers.
At least 25 people died last April when a bus fell into a river in the Cajamarca region of northern Peru, while at least 24 people died in a similar accident in the Anco region last September.
