At least nine people have been killed and 30 others injured after a long-distance coach collided with a car and fell off a bridge in northeastern Argentina.
The long-haul bus, operated by the Sol del Norte firm, plunged into the Yazá stream from a bridge after colliding with a Ford Focus car in Misiones Province, which borders Brazil and Paraguay, regional officials confirmed.
The accident occurred in the early hours in Campo Viera, near the city of Oberá from where the bus departed, and took place on the day of Argentina’s national legislative elections.
“There are nine fatalities,” announced Misiones Province Government Minister Marcelo Pérez. Provincial Health Minister, Héctor González, confirmed “29 injured.”
Police sources told the AFP news agency that two of the injured had to be transferred to more advanced hospitals in the provincial capital of Posadas.
The double-decker coach lost control following the head-on collision with the car, broke through the bridge’s metal barriers and fell several metres into the stream bed, they said.
Rescue workers laboured for several hours to free people who had been trapped inside the vehicle.
The car driver is among the fatal victims.
A woman was found dead on the road, and it has not yet been determined whether she was travelling in one of the vehicles and was thrown out by the impact.
The section of Ruta Nacional 14 where the tragedy occurred was closed to facilitate rescue operations.
Authorities are working to identify the victims, as the transport company did not have a passenger list. The coach was operating an interprovincial service, which allows passengers to board and alight along the route, meaning the exact number of people on board is unknown.
– TIMES/AFP/PERFIL
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