Peru, December 26: A bus carrying mostly Quechua farmers and merchants home for Christmas plunged 80 meters into a ravine in Peru’s southern Andes on Friday, killing 42 people and injuring at least eight, authorities said.
The accident took place near dawn on a stretch of mountain highway 610 kms southeast of Lima that was so remote the nearest village didn’t have a doctor.
“The bus is completely destroyed at the bottom of the ravine, and the worst of it is that we are isolated here like many towns in Peru, without the communication” that could have saved lives, said Cornelio Coaquira, mayor of Velille, who along with dozens of villagers tried to rescue survivors.
Victims were transported by truck to Espinar, where a doctor urged the governor to send gasoline for the town’s one ambulance.
The cause of the accident is still under investigation, said Alberto Palomino of the Cusco Highway Police, who told the death toll raised to 42.
Dr Gabriela Cardenas, director of Espinar’s medical post, told RPP radio the post has received eight injured people. She said at least two patients were in critical condition and needed to be taken to a larger hospital.
Most of the passengers on the bus were farmers and merchants returning to their homes for Christmas and a tradition Incan celebration called “Takanakuy” held between 24th-26th December .
—Agencies