A traffic accident involving a passenger bus killed at least 41 people early Saturday morning in the southern state of Campeche, Mexico.
The news agency Reuters reported that the bus, which was carrying 48 people, collided with a truck, resulting in the deaths of 38 passengers and the bus’s two drivers. The driver of the truck also died in the accident.
Only nine people managed to escape from the bus, and five are currently being treated in local hospitals, according to the regional newspaper Por Esto!
The two vehicles involved burst into flames and the quick-burning inferno prevented passers-by and emergency personnel from rescuing more people.
The bus, operated by Tour’s Acosta, left from the Caribbean resort city of Cancún on Friday night. It was traveling west across the Yucatán Peninsula on federal highway 186 with the Gulf coast city of Villahermosa, Tabasco, as its final destination.
Reuters images show the bus completely burned out following the collision, with just the skeletal remains of the metal frame left standing.
Officials from the neighboring state of Tabasco said recovery work is continuing, including efforts to identify those killed in the crash.
“So far, only 18 [bodies] have been confirmed, but much more is missing,” Tabasco sources told Reuters on condition of anonymity, adding that recovery work continued.
The bus company, based out of Quintana Roo, said it was “profoundly sorry about what happened” in a post on Facebook, adding that it was working with authorities to find out what happened and if the bus had been traveling within the speed limit.
“The local prosecutor’s office has informed us that the investigation will be taking effect in … the municipality of Candelaria, Campeche,” Tour’s Acosta wrote, advising relatives of the passengers to get in contact with the authorities there “to perform the relevant procedures.”
In a social media post, the governor of Campeche, Layda Sansores, extended condolences to the families and friends of the victims.
“We are working … in coordination with the government of Tabasco, federal authorities and the mayor of Escárcega, Juan Carlos Hernández Rath, to provide as much support as possible to the victims of this unfortunate accident,” she wrote.
In a statement posted to Facebook, Campeche Government Minister Liz Hernández said that Mayor Hernández Rath had stepped in to provide food and lodging to the families of those involved in the tragic accident.
With reports from Reuters, La Jornada, BBC and El Heraldo de Tabasco
