(Mexico City) A head-on collision between a bus and a goods truck left 19 dead and 22 injured in a state in northwestern Mexico on Tuesday, local authorities announced.
The accident occurred on a double track, and the bus was carrying 47 people, said the director of civil protection for the state of Sinaloa, Roy Navarrete, during a press conference.
The accident took place near Elota, a tourist destination popular with Canadian and American nationals.
Both vehicles completely caught fire. “We counted 19 bodies. The identification will take us a little time, given that they are charred,” said Sara Quiñónez, attorney general of the state of Sinaloa.
“As we have the data of deceased people, we will share it,” she added.
The 22 injured received medical treatment, added the representative of the prosecution.
The bus left the city of Guadalajara and had its final destination at Los Mochis in the state of Sinaloa, also known as one of the cradles of drug trafficking in Mexico.
Road accidents are common in Mexico.
On November 21, at least 12 people died and 58 were injured when a bus overturned on a road in the state of Veracruz (east), on the Gulf of Mexico.
On July 5, a bus left the road in a mountainous area of the state of Oaxaca, causing the death of 27 people.
The accidents often affect migrants from Central America or Venezuela who travel by land to the northern border in hopes of crossing into the United States.
In August, the accident of a bus which was mainly transporting Venezuelans caused the death of 16 people between Oaxaca (south) and Puebla (center).
In December 2021, 56 migrants, most from Central America, were killed when a smuggler’s truck overturned on a road in Chiapas (south).