A bus crash on Wednesday in the mountainous Mixteca region of Oaxaca left a death toll of 29 people, state authorities said.
A passenger bus veered off the road and plummeted into a 25-meter-deep ravine in the municipality of Magdalena Peñasco, located in the northwest of the southern state.
A 1 1/2-year-old infant was among those who lost their lives.
Oaxaca Interior Minister Jesús Romero López initially reported a death toll of 27, but his office subsequently said that the figure had risen to 29 after two people died in hospital from their injuries.
Close to 20 people were also injured in the accident, which occurred shortly after 6 a.m. Wednesday. Emergency services personnel took many of the injured to a public hospital in Tlaxiaco, a town about 20 kilometers from Magdalena Peñasco.
The bus departed from Mexico City and had planned to stop in various villages in the largely indigenous Mixteca region. Romero said in a television interview that it appeared that “a lack of skill and tiredness” caused the accident.
Lamentamos profundamente el accidente ocurrido en Magdalena Peñasco. Ya se encuentra personal de nuestro gobierno trabajando en las acciones de rescate y brindando todo el apoyo a las personas heridas. Enviamos un abrazo y nuestro pésame a las familias de las personas fallecidas,…
— Salomón Jara Cruz (@salomonj) July 5, 2023
In a Twitter post, Oaxaca Governor Salomón Jara Cruz sent his condolences to the families of the deceased and pledged the state government’s full support in the wake of their “terrible loss.”
With reports from El Financiero, El País and AP
