(Lima) At least 24 people, including two children, died Monday morning in a bus accident that plunged into a ravine in the Andean region of Huancavelica, in southern Peru, authorities announced.
An initial report from the police reported 20 dead and 35 injured, then a new press release from the Ministry of Health a little later in the morning announced that “24 people died, including two children”.
The accident occurred on the night of Sunday to Monday, around 2 a.m. local time (3 a.m. Eastern time) when the bus carrying more than 50 passengers and intended to connect Huanta, in Ayacucho, to Huancayo, in the Junin region, left the road and fell into a ravine more than 200 meters below.
On August 13, another accident in the same region left 13 dead and 5 seriously injured.
Road accidents are frequent in Peru due in particular to excessive speed and poor maintenance of the roads, most of which wind through mountainous terrain.
The World Health Organization estimates that 4,414 people died on Peru’s roads in 2019.