Guatema City/CMEDIA: At least reportedly 51 people were killed and survivors trapped when a bus veered off a highway bridge into a polluted ravine in Guatemala City early on Monday, said a spokesperson for the city’s fire department.
While traveling into the capital from the town of San Agustin Acasaguastlan on a busy route into the city, the densely packed bus plunged approximately 20 meters from Puente Belice, a highway bridge that crosses over a road and creek.
The bodies of 36 men and 15 women had been sent to a provincial morgue set up for the accident, the spokesman, Carlos Hernandez, said.
Images shared by the fire department on social media showed the bus partially submerged in wastewater surrounded by victims’ bodies.
While deploying the country’s army and disaster agency to assist response efforts, Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo declared three days of national mourning.
“I stand in solidarity with the families of the victims who today woke up to heartbreaking news. Their pain is my pain,” Arevalo said on social media.
