Death Toll Rises To 32 After Bus Plunges Into Ravine In Mexico

Death toll rises to 32 after bus plunges into ravine in Mexico < br />

2012-06-26 21:55:43 GMT+7 (ICT)

ACAPULCO, MEXICO (BNO NEWS) -- The death toll after a bus plunged into a ravine in southwestern Mexico on Sunday afternoon has risen to 32, officials said on Tuesday, and several others remain in a serious condition. The bus was carrying supporters of two leftist political parties.

The accident occurred at around 12:50 p.m. local time on Sunday when the bus overturned and plunged into a 300 meter (984 feet) deep ravine between the towns of Tlamcazapa and Buena Vista de Cuellar in the northern area of Guerrero, a state in the southwestern region of the country.

State deputy secretary of Guerrero's Civil Protection department, Constantino Gonzalez Vargas, said 24 people died at the scene of the accident while four others succumbed to their injuries in the hours after the accident. Among them were five boys and two girls. Several other victims died on Monday, raising the overall death toll to 32.

In addition to those killed, at least sixteen others were injured, including seven people who remained in a serious to critical condition on early Tuesday morning. It is feared the death toll could raise further. Among those injured were many children, one of them just 3 years old.

The bus was carrying supporters of the leftist Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) and Labor Party (PT) to the town of Buena Vista de Cuellar, where they were to attend a rally in support of mayoral Labor Party candidate Elias Salgado. Elections in Mexico are scheduled to take place on July 1.

State officials said investigators believe the brakes of the bus failed as it was climbing a slope, causing the vehicle to roll back and overturn before plunging into the ravine. Officials said the injured bus driver, identified as Angel Flores, could face charges because the vehicle was carrying around 60 people, despite having a maximum capacity of just 24.

Deadly bus crashes and other road accidents occur regularly in Mexico, killing hundreds of people a year.

Earlier this month, eleven people were killed and thirty others were injured when a school bus overturned near an intersection in western Mexico and slammed into a residential house, possibly after losing its brakes. The bus was transporting a group of young children from the Juan Escutia kindergarten and the Lazaro Cardenas elementary school to the 'El Sabino' zoo and farm for a school field trip.

And in late April, a total of 43 people were killed and 27 others were injured 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. It was the country's worst road accident in recent years.

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