Television footage shows bus overturning between southwest Pasto and Popayan
At least 20 other people were killed and at least 14 injured in Saturday’s bus crash on a highway in Colombia, police said.
Colombian television footage showed the bus overturned in the morning incident between the southwestern cities of Pasto and Popayan, which the government said was possibly due to mechanical failure.
Local media said the bus was about to plunge down the side of a mountain, but stopped in front of a barrier.
The bus was traveling between the port city of Tumaco and Cali, 320 km to the northeast, when the tragedy occurred.
Among the injured were a three-year-old woman and an eight-year-old boy, according to reports.
Captain Albertland Agudelo, of the Traffic Police of the Nariño Department, said: “Unfortunately we have a balance of 20. “
Col. Oscar Lamprea, the region’s director of traffic and transportation, told reporters investigators were looking for “mechanical disturbances in the brake system” imaginable.
An initial report suggests the motive force may have been lost after exiting a curve in a foggy area, according to local reports.
It took a few hours for police and fire service rescuers to right the vehicle, evacuate the injured and recover the bodies.