PATACAMAYA – A head-on collision between a truck and a bus on a highway in the Bolivian Andes has killed 22 people and injured 16 in the country’s worst road accident this year, according to police.
Fourteen of the dead have been identified so far, police said yesterday, with Chile’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs saying there was at least one Chilean national among them.
Earlier, officials said the drivers of both vehicles were among the dead.
The accident happened on a road between Bolivia‘s town of Patacamaya and the town of Tambo Quemado in northern Chile, according to Unitel channel.
The bus had been heading towards Chile on the busy commercial and tourism route linking the two South American countries.
The initial investigation showed that the truck had crossed into the opposite lane while trying to overtake a vehicle, traffic officer Nilo Torrico said.
“This truck made a prohibited manoeuvre and, as a result, we have this unfortunate accident,” he said.
Images of the accident shared by Unitel showed the bus with its front section shattered and the smashed truck. Some bodies were seen on the road.
First responders were working to remove bodies trapped in the destroyed vehicles, Torrico said.
Bolivia sees about 1,400 traffic deaths each year, government statistics show. Accidents are mainly due to poor driving and mechanical failures. A collision on a busy road in southwestern Bolivia on April 4 killed 14 people and left two injured. (Al Jazeera)…[+]

Photo: First responders working at the scene of the accident. (Mehr News Agency)