No less than 53 individuals had been killed on Monday when a bus crossing a bridge in Guatemala Metropolis collided with a number of different automobiles after which plunged right into a ravine, based on authorities officers.
The bus was lodged in a hard-to-reach space and submerged in a river of sewage. Baggage and private belongings could possibly be seen scattered throughout the banks of the water.
The variety of useless was anticipated to rise from the crash, officers mentioned.
The general public prosecutor’s workplace, which launched the dying toll in a press release, mentioned it was investigating the crash, which occurred at about 4:30 a.m.
The driving force of the general public bus could have misplaced management of the car due to a mechanical failure, mentioned Carlos Hernández, a spokesman for Guatemala Metropolis’s fireplace division. The bus then collided with two different automobiles.
Mr. Hernández cautioned, nonetheless, that the investigation into the accident was nonetheless underway. Native media retailers revealed security-camera footage of the bus, which gave the impression to be going at a excessive fee of pace proper earlier than the collision.
Information of the crash shook the capital and set off a frantic seek for data throughout many households.
When Jeison Galindo, 23, a nursing scholar, discovered {that a} bus had crashed on the route his 57-year-old father-in-law takes on a regular basis to get to work as a safety guard, he tried to name him however couldn’t get by.
“I began watching movies on Fb after I noticed a deceased man who appeared like him and his clothes matched,” Mr. Galindo mentioned. He rushed to the scene of the crash to find out his father-in-law’s destiny.
“We got here right here and noticed his title among the many deceased,” he mentioned mournfully in an interview on the accident web site. “Now we’re ready to obtain his physique.”
Guatemala’s president, Bernardo Arévalo, declared three days of nationwide mourning and ordered the military to mobilize and help rescue efforts. “I stand in solidarity with the households of the victims who right now woke as much as heartbreaking information,” Mr. Arévalo mentioned in a televised deal with to the nation. “Their ache is my ache.”
On Monday afternoon, hours after the crash, a reporter noticed 15 our bodies pulled from the depths of the ravine inside an hour, emergency staff carrying the corpses on gurneys lined by white tarps. The rescuers struggled to climb up the steep slope, then carried the our bodies to a brief morgue that had been arrange in a home on a hill overlooking the crash scene.
A crowd of about 200 had gathered, made up households and pals of the victims. They anxiously awaited information of their family members, some sobbing and hugging each other as they watched gurney after gurney go by.
Rosa Amabilia García, 47, appeared on because the rescuers earlier than her transported the corpses. She was trying to find her niece and her niece’s three kids, ages 10, 12 and 15.
Ms. Amabilia’s niece, Edna Mariela Martínez, 28, took the bus from the outskirts of Guatemala Metropolis each day to a faculty within the capital, the place she labored as a trainer. Her kids had been touring together with her when the bus crashed. All fell to their deaths.
“They simply informed us that every one 4 of them died, and now we’re simply ready for his or her our bodies to be returned to us,” Ms. Amabilia mentioned, sobbing.
On the outside of the momentary morgue, rescue staff had taped up an extended neon-green sheet of paper bearing the names of the useless recognized to date. Members of the group craned their necks, straining to learn the checklist. Each time a brand new title was added, guttural cries of grief emerged from the group.
Nuns tried to supply consolation to the victims’ households and pals, and supplied their prayers.
As soon as recognized, the our bodies had been handed on to the households to be taken to funeral houses. The unidentified corpses had been transferred to town morgue, officers mentioned.
