The bus accident took place in San Martin Jilotepeque, approximately 45 miles away from Guatemala City and proved to be nothing less than devastating and shocking. The bus was scheduled to travel from Chilamentago to the region of San Martin Jilotepeque and was found to have contained 36 more passengers than its seat capacity of 90, according to Mario Cruz, on behalf of the fire department. However, the cause of the accident has not been unraveled.
Otto Vielman, the mayor of San Martin Jilotepeque claims that the bus collided against colossal rocks, and this collision resulted in its flight from a cliff. The bus fell off a 100-meter high cliff and landed into a river, situated at the end of a ravine located in the municipality of San Martin Jilotepeque.
Rescue Operation on Hold
In an attempt to rescue the remaining injured passengers and in order to retrieve the bodies of the deceased, rescue operations were conducted. However, these were obstructed because of the presence of a high-speed flow of river water located near the accident site.
Emergency teams set up cables along the river and carried stretchers through the water. Mechanical diggers were also employed in order to lift people across the water. Locals living beside the accident site volunteered to aid the rescue teams in their search and found the sight heart breaking and distressing.
One local resident even said that certain passengers on the bus had been transporting the harvest of their farms to the local market. The injured victims of this destructive incident were placed in local hospitals, and others were transferred to hospitals in Guatemala City.
Guatemalan President Announces Three Days of Mourning
The catastrophic accident is said to have been the worst road accident in Guatemala in 2013; thus, the president issued a notice recognizing 3 days of mourning for the deceased. 40 people died immediately after the occurrence of the accident whilst 3 of the remaining 50 died in the hospitals they were transported to for treatment, as reported by Cecilio Chacaj, a spokesman of the fire department. Amongst the deceased were six children as well.
The government has initiated investigations to find the cause of this accident so that any future catastrophes similar to it can be avoided. Furthermore, it is recorded that Guatemala has the fifth largest number of road crashes in Latin America, with approximately 20 out of 100,000 people dying as a result of road accidents. Previously in 2008, a similar devastating crash took place within this country, killing 53 people.