Coach plunges down a slope: 13 people dead
Pasto (Colombia) - A terrible tragedy at the turn of the year.At least 13 people have died in a serious bus accident in the Colombian Andes. The fully occupied tourist bus broke through the crash barrier and plunged down a slope.
The bus was supposed to take 42 tourists to the remote sanctuary of Las Lajas, a popular excursion destination in the Andes, but the people were never supposed to get there.
The disaster occurred at around 7 a.m. on Friday morning, reports the broadcaster NTN24.
The driver suddenly lost control. The bus broke through the crash barrier on the winding road, plunged down a slope and crashed into a ravine.
13 people were killed and 28 required medical treatment. One person miraculously escaped injury. The bus driver is also among the dead. This was confirmed by the authorities.
The bus set off on Thursday evening from Cali to the excursion destination around 450 kilometers away near the border with Peru. The tragedy occurred around 60 kilometers from the destination.
Video: Minutes before the accident, the death bus drives over the serpentine road
Bus crash in Colombia: Dramatic scenes after tragedy
The minutes after the accident must have been pure horror. "It was terrible," said a first aider to the TuBarco newspaper. "Many people were left without arms, a baby without a leg, it was terrible."
Images circulated on social media show the scale of the disaster. The white coach belonging to the company Turestur LTDA landed on its side and was left lying on a dirt track, completely destroyed.
According to initial findings, the accident was apparently caused by a technical defect. The police are investigating the circumstances of the accident.
Unclear road conditions and poorly maintained vehicles repeatedly cause devastating bus accidents in the Andes. In September , for example, a tourist bus crashed into a ravine near the world-famous Inca city of Machu Picchu . Previously, 26 people were killed in a very similar accident in Peru .