17 Die in Bus Accident in Peru

LIMA – At least 17 people were killed and 30 others injured in a bus accident on a highway in north-central Peru, Radio Programas del Peru, or RPP, reported Tuesday.

The Pampino company bus plunged into a ravine for unknown reasons near the town of Tarica just before dark on Monday, police spokesmen told Efe.

The injured were rescued and taken to hospitals, but some of the bodies of the dead are still in the wreckage, the police spokesmen said.

Several serious accidents have been reported in Peru in the past few days.

Four people, including two children, were killed and eight others injured when an SUV crashed in the southeastern province of Puno on Sunday, the official Andina news agency reported.

Ten people were killed Friday in two separate traffic accidents in central and northern Peru.

The most serious accident occurred in the central mining town of La Oroya when a vehicle attempting an illegal pass collided head-on with a tow truck, one of the survivors said.

Six people inside the car, including a 1-year-old baby and another minor, were killed, although the driver only suffered injuries. The driver of the truck and his son were unharmed in the accident.

The other deadly accident occurred on the outskirts of the northern city of Trujillo, where a public-transport van burst into flames after crashing into the back of a dump truck.

Three passengers in the van burned to death, while a minor who was riding in the hopper was also killed. Two other people were injured.

Traffic accidents killed 3,500 people last year, left 46,000 others injured and caused $1 billion in losses. Road accidents have killed 30,000 people in the past eight years.

Peru, which has many problems with its roads and a large number of old vehicles, has the highest death rate from traffic accidents in Latin America – 30 deaths per 10,000 vehicles annually, a report released last December said.

The National Ombudsman’s Office says there are “profound weaknesses” in the government’s ability to prevent traffic accidents in Peru.

Experts claim the accident rate in Peru’s interior is extremely high due to the poor condition of roads, an obsolete bus fleet and drivers who obtain licenses on the “black market” by paying between $30 and $50. EFE