As many as 37 people were killed and scores injured after a head-on collision between a double-decker bus and a pickup truck in the Southern Arequipa region of Peru, officials said.
The deadly accident between the double-decker bus, which was carrying more than 60 passengers, and a speeding pickup truck caused the bus to plunge into a 200-metre-deep gorge, resulting in casualties.
Authorities said 36 people were killed instantly at the crash site, while one person succumbed to injuries in the hospital. An eight-month-old baby and two other children are among the 26 injured, three of whom are in serious condition.
According to authorities, this is one of the deadliest bus crashes ever recorded in Peru’s history, a country where road accidents remain frequent.
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The police have arrested the pickup truck’s driver, who survived the accident, while the bus driver perished.
The bus was travelling from Chala, a town in Peru’s Caraveli province, to Arequipa, the country’s second-largest city, when the accident happened.
Footage from the site showed the bus upside down with passengers’ belongings scattered around it.
Peru’s interior ministry on Thursday said that “police officers were coordinating the rescue and search efforts with firefighters to rescue the missing and trapped people.”
The local prosecution said that an investigation will be conducted to determine the truck driver’s responsibility.
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