A tragic bus accident in the state of Veracruz, Mexico on the Easter weekend has killed 12 people and left 14 more injured, say local authorities.
According to reports from the public safety department of the state of Veracruz in Mexico, the bus was travelling between the cities of Misantla and Xalapa on the night of Saturday, March 31, just one day before Easter Sunday. While traversing the treacherous, winding road through the mountains, the bus had a head on collision with a truck that was coming from the opposite direction. It is not clear which of the drivers was at fault in the incident.
After colliding with the oncoming truck, the passenger bus plunged off the side of the road and down a cliff. The bus flipped over a number of times and rolled to the bottom of a deep canyon, approximately 300 feet off the road, before coming to a rest on its roof. According to weather reports and local authorities, there was thick mist on the road at the time of the accident. It is thought that the bad weather and poor visibility may have contributed to the accident, although investigations are still ongoing.
It is significant in the largely Catholic country of Mexico that this accident comes on the Easter weekend, a time that is usually filled with celebration with family. This accident comes just less than a year after another fatal bus accident in Veracruz. On April 20th, 2012, 43 people were killed and dozens more injured, including seven children, after a fully loaded passenger bus collided with a trailer that had broken loose from a truck in the northern portion of the Veracruz state, outside the town of Alamo.
The 2012 accident was one of the most fatal accidents in Mexico’s history. According to the accident report from the 2012 incident, the bus involved in the crash was carrying more than 70 passengers, although it was only licensed to transport 60. All of the passengers were farm workers from local farms that were being transported home. Similar circumstances of thick fog and a head on collision with another vehicle made the 2012 accident and this accident eerily alike.
More information is expected to be released about Saturday’s accident as the investigation into the incident continues. The deceased have not yet been identified in the press, as their next of kin are yet to be informed about their death.