Almost three dozen people were killed Saturday when a tour bus ran off the road into a ravine, according to police. The bus was traveling near Campo Alegre, in the Joinville region of Santa Catarina state, when it fell approximately 1,300 feet (400 meters) into the ravine. Santa Catarina road police confirmed 32 fatalities and 11 injured via a statement on social media, but warned the figure could still rise as the bus was full. Santa Catarina state road military police commander Edilson de Tolledo told The Anadolu Agency that preliminary investigations appeared to show that the bus experienced brake failure and lost control on one of the mountainous road's many tight bends. The bus headed across a corner and careered through a crash barrier into the densely-vegetated valley, de Tolledo added. The accident occurred at around 5: 30 p.m. local time (GMT2030). Rescue efforts continued into the night but are hampered by the remote location and poor radio and cellular coverage in the mountainous region. Survivors, including minors, are being taken to hospitals in the region and in nearby Paraná state. Two children, aged 3 and 6 years, were pulled from the wreckage with severe head injuries, police said. Local media reported that motorists attempted to climb down into the ravine to help survivors. The tour bus had come to the area from neighboring Paraná state. The incident occurred near a viewpoint in the picturesque Serra Dona Francisca mountain range that is popular with tourists. The region is at the southern end of the dense Atlantic rainforest, which stretches the length of the eastern seaboard of the country. Brazil is among the world's worst countries for traffic-related fatalities. In 2013, at least 40,500 people were killed on roads in Latin America's most populous country, according to data from Brazil's public health system, down from 44,800 in 2012. www.aa.com.tr/en - Sao Paulo
http://en.haberler.com/update-at-least-32-killed-in-brazil-tour-bus-crash-679438/ |
