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42 dead after bus falls into valley
Vehicle carried farmers and merchants returning home for Christmas
- AP
- Published: 00:00 December 26, 2009
Lima, Peru : A bus carrying mostly Quechua farmers and merchants home for Christmas plunged 80 metres into a ravine in Peru's southern Andes on Thursday, killing 42 people and injuring at least eight, authorities said.
The accident took place near dawn on a stretch of a mountain's highway 610km southeast of Lima — an area 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, Cornelio Coaquira, mayor of Velille, who along with dozens of villagers tried to rescue survivors, said.
No fuel
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 unknown, Alberto Palomino of the Cusco Highway Police, who raised the death toll to 42 late on Thursday, said.
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 traditional Incan celebration called "Takanakuy".
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