Moises Castillo / AP
No less than 51 individuals are useless after their bus plunged off a bridge Monday at the outskirts of Guatemala’s capital, mentioned Hector Flores, who was once serving to coordinate the municipal executive’s reaction.
Firefighting spokesman Edwin Villagran mentioned a multi-vehicle crash despatched the bus off the Belice Bridge sooner than crack of dawn. Others had been significantly injured.
Volunteer firefighting spokesman Óscar Sánchez mentioned youngsters had been a few of the sufferers.
The bus fell 115 ft right into a sewage-polluted flow after it collided with two automobiles and misplaced regulate, consistent with a Municipal Fireplace Division of Guatemala Town spokesperson Carlos Hernández. It crashed thru a steel protection railing and landed the other way up and half-submerged, trapping survivors, he mentioned.
The bus had come from Progreso, northeast of the capital. It is a busy bus path that crosses the freeway bridge over a creek.
Moises Castillo / AP
President Bernardo Arévalo presented his condolences and declared an afternoon of nationwide mourning.
“I’ve advised the mobilization of team of workers from the Nationwide Military and CONRED to help on website online and turn on particular standards for scientific handle the wounded,” Arévalo mentioned in a commentary on X. “Moreover, I’ve made up our minds to claim a length of nationwide mourning, which is able to quickly be formalized by way of executive settlement.”