43 Killed After Trailer Truck Slams Into Bus In Eastern Mexico

43 killed after trailer truck slams into bus in eastern Mexico 2012-04-22 13:45:08 GMT+7 (ICT) VERACRUZ, MEXICO (BNO NEWS) -- A passenger bus and a cargo truck collided on a highway in eastern Mexico on Friday morning, killing more than 40 people and leaving dozens more injured, officials said. It is the country's worst road accident in years.The accident happened at around 5 a.m. local time when the rear trailer of a truck decoupled and slammed into an oncoming bus on the Alamo-El Potrero highway in the municipality of Alamo, which is located in the eastern state of Veracruz. The truck was transporting sorghum.Local authorities said the passenger bus was carrying 70 passengers even though it had a capacity of only 60. The passengers were reported to be a group of agricultural laborers who were traveling toward Saltillo, the capital of Coahuila state.The office of Veracruz Governor Javier Duarte confirmed 43 people were killed while 27 others were injured, including several who remained in a critical condition on Saturday. At least twelve of the workers were from Coatzacoalcos while the rest were from other areas of southern Veracruz, including Jaltipan, Acayucan and Paso del Toro.In addition to the truck and the passenger bus, a third vehicle managed to avoid colliding with the bus but crashed into the tires of the rear trailer, which was in the middle of the road. It was not immediately clear if anyone was injured or killed in the third vehicle.Veracruz governor Javier Duarte en his wife Karime Macias arrived at the scene of the accident and announced that they would fund the victims' medical expenses, as well as the transportation of the bodies. The state's Attorney General's Office, meanwhile, said investigations into the cause of the accident would be carried out by the federal government.On April 12, six university students were killed when a trailer truck carrying 30 tons (60,000 pounds) of wheat slammed into a school bus on the Mexico City-Toluca highway in the municipality of Ocoyoacac, which borders Mexico City. Twenty-two others were injured in the accident, which involved a bus from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).

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