Passenger bus plunges down ravine in northern Peru, killing 19

[News_Editor]

LIMA, PERU (BNO NEWS) -- A passenger bus plunged down a ravine in northern Peru on Monday after its brakes failed, killing at least 19 people and injuring more than a dozen others, police said on Tuesday. It follows three other bus accidents in recent months which have claimed more than 80 lives.

The latest accident happened at around 10:30 a.m. local time on Monday when a passenger bus carrying no less than 35 people plunged more than 100 meters (330 feet) down a ravine in the district of Quinocay, which is located in Yauyos Province within the country's Lima region.

The passenger bus, operated by the company Santa Rosa de Calango, was carrying people who were returning home after celebrating the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul on June 29. It is believed the accident happened when the brakes of the vehicles failed, causing the driver to lose control and plunge down the ravine.

Provincial highway police confirmed at least 19 people were killed while 16 others, including Quinocay Mayor Clemente Angel Manta Martinez, were injured and rushed to area hospitals. Some of those who died had been thrown out of the windows and crushed as the vehicle rolled down.

Just last month, on June 19, a total of 40 people were killed and 14 others were injured when a double-decker bus plunged about 50 meters (165 feet) down a ravine and into the Tarma river in the district of San Ramon, which is located in Chanchamayo province within the country's Junin Department.

The cause of last month's accident was not immediately known, but the company that operated the bus said the driver had indicated the road did not have adequate signs and the highway was in a poor condition. Peru's Transportation Ministry chief Elvira Moscoso denied the company's claims.

Before that, on March 27, a total of 26 people were killed and 30 others were injured when a passenger bus carrying mostly mine workers plunged down a ravine in a mountainous region of southern Arequipa province. Just weeks earlier in the same province, at least 15 people were killed in a similar accident.

Although the number of fatalities has dropped in recent years, road accidents remain common in Peru, killing thousands of people a year and injuring tens of thousands more. At least 2,514 people were killed as a result of road accidents in 2010, down from a reported 3,000 fatalities in 2009.

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