Lima.- At least 9 people died and another 25 were injured after an interprovincial transport bus suffered an accident this Thursday on a highway in the Ayacucho region, in southern Peru.
The bus went off the road and fell down a slope of several meters when it traveled kilometer 228 of the Interoceanic highway, in an area known as Condorcocha, in the Ayacuchan province of Parinacochas, official sources reported.
Ambulances and units from the Voluntary Fire Brigade and the National Police arrived to the place to rescue the bodies of the victims and transfer the injured to the nearest hospitals.
The official Andina agency pointed out that 25 wounded were transferred to the Puquio Support Hospital, in the province of Lucanas.
Preliminary investigations indicate that the accident occurred, apparently, due to speeding and fatigue of the driver.
The regional office of Civil Defense in Ayacucho reported that it coordinated response actions with the National Police, while the Sectorial Emergency Operations Center of the Ministry of the Interior confirmed that road police traveled to the scene of the accident.
In Peru, these types of traffic accidents are common due to the poor condition of the roads and the vehicle fleet, excessive speed and the recklessness of the drivers, which adds to the rugged geography.
Until before the pandemic, the South American country had around 3,000 people killed in traffic accidents, most of them due to road accidents, and some 55,000 injured, according to figures from the National Road Safety Council.
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