(Panama) At least 39 people died in Panama on Wednesday morning in the accident of a migrant bus en route to the United States, Panamanian authorities announced.
President Laurentino Cortizo expressed on Twitter his “great sadness” upon hearing the news of the accident, which occurred in Gualaca, in the province of Chiriqui, about 400 km west of the capital.
Migrants “were transported from Darien (the border jungle with Colombia) to an inn,” said the head of state.
They were heading to Costa Rica, from where they intended to continue their journey to the United States.
“Preliminary information […] unfortunately indicate that 39 people lost their lives. The injured are being cared for in different hospitals and health centres,” the migration services said.
Sixty-six people, including the driver and his assistant, were in the vehicle.
Ten children between 4 and 11 years old, including three in “critical condition”, were admitted to the pediatric hospital in David, the capital of the province of Chiriqui, according to the director of the establishment Johny Parra.
“This news is deplorable for Panama and for the region. The government offers its condolences to the relatives of those who died in this accident and reaffirms its commitment to continue to provide humanitarian aid and dignified conditions” to migrants, the Panamanian president tweeted.
The nationalities of the migrants were not specified, but Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez tweeted that Cubans were among the victims.
Jagged wreckage
The bus was one of those chartered by the Panamanian government to ferry migrants to Costa Rica, who must pay $40 to make the trip.
Usually, the coaches run at night “because there is less traffic” and thus take advantage of the “cooler” hours, Ms.me Gozaine.
“According to preliminary reports the driver missed the entrance to the hostel”, where he was to stop, and the accident occurred while he was trying to turn around, she added.
According to the testimony in the media of Edgar Guerra, passenger of the minibus involved in the accident, the coach fell during the maneuver on a lane below hitting a rock and his vehicle.
“We saw it coming, we threw ourselves under the seats, the driver and I, and nothing happened to us thanks to that,” he added.
The shock was very violent, as evidenced by the photos of the wreckage transmitted by the emergency services which show a shredded carcass.
The number of irregular migrants arriving in Panama by road bound for the United States has almost doubled in a year, reaching a record 248,000 in 2022, more than half of whom were Venezuelans, according to the Panamanian immigration services. .
Ecuadorians, Haitians and Cubans, as well as Africans and Asians are also trying to reach the United States by taking this perilous and long route.
Migrants arrive in Panama after crossing on foot, risking their lives, the Darien jungle, straddling Colombia and Panama and devoid of roads. During this journey, they face the dangers of this mountainous and swampy jungle 266 km long.
Their enemies are not only snakes and mosquitoes but also gangs of criminals who rob them. Many of them have thus disappeared into the jungle while women and adolescent girls are raped.
According to the director of the Panamanian Institute of Forensic Medicine José Vicente Pachar, at least 60 migrants died last year trying to cross the Darien.
The Panamanian government, in cooperation with UN aid agencies and NGOs, has set up camps to accommodate migrants as they leave Darien.