Passenger bus fatally crashes in Peru

A passenger bus has gone off the road and overturned in southern Peru, leaving nine of the 50 people on board dead.

The fatal crash occurred on a highway in the southern region of Arequipa, Peruvian police said on June 5.

The accident reportedly occurred at about 7:30 a.m. local time at Kilometer 87 on the highway linking the regions of Puno and Arequipa.

According to local reports, more than 30 people were also injured in the accident. Police, however, have not determined the exact number of fatalities as they are continuing to work on recovering the bodies.

The injured, among whom are three children, were transported to nearby hospitals and clinics.

The chief of highway police, Antonio Llerena, said the accident was due to excessive speed.

Deadly bus accidents are frequent in Peru, as the country’s infrastructure is in poor condition, with unpaved routes that wind their way over the Andes Mountains. Other factors that contribute to the high frequency of accidents are reckless or drunk driving, excessive speed, and sleepiness.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), traffic accidents in Peru account for nearly 16 deaths per 100,000 residents.

On May 23, 16 people died and seven were injured in another bus crash in the same region. The bus veered off a mountain road at a spot known as Quebrada del Toro and plunged roughly 100 meters to the bottom of a ravine.