At least 10 dead after a bus fell into an abyss in northern Peru due to "an oversight"

At least ten people have died this Sunday when a bus plunged into an abyss due to “an oversight” of the driver in the department of Piura, in northern Peru, the National Police reported.

“After the mistake and fall into an abyss of a bus, registered at kilometer 35 of the Fernando Belaúnde highway, in the district of Huarmaca, in Piura, police officers from Alta Montaña Chiclayo have been carrying out rescue work to locate the victims,” the police said on their Twitter account.

The officer of the Huarmaca district police station, in the Piura region, Manuel Alfaro, has told local media that at least ten people have been reported dead in the accident.

The Superintendency of Land Transport of People, Cargo and Goods (Sutran) has announced that according to the first investigations, the vehicle with a V1M963 license plate was heading from the northern department of San Martín to Tumbes, on the border with Ecuador.

The bus had everything in order

According to this institution, the vehicle, which belonged to the company Transporte Especial Cotrina Buss EIRL, presented the Mandatory Traffic Accident Insurance (SOAT), the Vehicle Technical Inspection Certificate and valid MTC authorization.

“The entity deeply regrets the loss of human life and has activated all the intervention protocols in coordination with the competent authorities,” Sutran said.

Local media have reported that the vehicle was carrying 50 passengers and that it rolled down a 50-meter-high abyss.

The death toll could continue to rise and there are about twenty injured, according to some local media.

“Sutran continues with the investigations established within the framework of its powers, and the coordination with the institutions involved in order to determine the responsibilities of the case,” the statement concluded.