At least 14 dead in Peru bus accident

LIMA – At least 14 people died and 25 others were injured Thursday when a passenger bus plunged off the road in the Ancash region of Peru, authorities reported.

The 48-passenger vehicle lost control and tumbled 20 meters (65 feet) off the Pativilca-Huaraz route in the Cajacay district some 280 kilometers (170 miles) north of Lima, a spokesman for the police said.

Officials at a regional hospital where the casualties were treated said the rescued passengers were freed by police and firefighters.

Accidents are frequent in Peru, where poor road conditions are compounded by unpaved roads, even along the windiest roads of the Andes.

Inexperienced drivers and mechanical bus failure also are frequent problems.

The year 2012 saw 4,050 people die in Peru traffic accidents, compared to 3,411 people in 2011, according to the government’s National Institute for Statistics and Informatics (INEI).

The latest figures from INEI indicate that in the first quarter of 2013, 781 people died in traffic accidents.