At least 27 people, most of them mining workers, were killed Friday when a bus carrying them derailed in the Andes and fell into a ravine in southern Peru.
“Unfortunately, we are mourning the deaths of 27 of our workers after falling into a ravine of the bus that took them to Arekipa,” the Ares mining company said in a statement, adding that 16 others were injured.
The local prosecutor’s office said the bus driver was among the dead. “This is a very dangerous area,” said prosecutor Johnny Romero, adding that the cause of the accident may have been that the driver fell asleep at the wheel.
The accident took place in the early hours of the morning between the tourist town of Naska and Pukio, in the highlands of Ayacucho district, about 450 km southeast of Lima.
The bus, carrying 43 workers, ran for about 500 kilometers to the city of Arequipa. The miners were returning home after a week of work.
“Rescue crews found 14 bodies along the course of the bus crash. In this area there are steep slopes, high hills through which the road passes “, pointed out Nestor Martines, a fire officer in Naska.
Inside the vehicle, firefighters found nine bodies. Four other workers succumbed to their injuries while being treated in hospitals.
“My brother was thrown out of the window and fell on stones. “He is seriously injured, he is unable to move his body, he will be taken to Lima,” Adriana Cruz Taipe told the press.
This is the second deadly car accident in the country in ten days.
On June 8, 17 people were killed when a bus fell into a ravine in the area of La Libertad, 500 km north of Lima.
Road accidents are very common in Peru, due to the development of speeding, poor road conditions, lack of signage and inspections by the authorities.
