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Bus plunges in Mexico, killing 57

Family members try to identify one of the bodies of those killed in a bus crash in Maltrata, Mexico, yesterday. PHOTO: AP

Sobbing family members began arriving in Maltrata yesterday at a makeshift gymnasium-turned-morgue to identify their loved ones. Earlier in the day, an overloaded bus careened off a highway and into a 200m ravine killing 57 people.

The coffins stretched most of the length of an indoor basketball court, with an almost equally haunting pile of luggage belonging to the victims stacked up against one wall.

The crash was the among the worst in recent memory in Mexico, where bus accidents that claim dozens of lives are common.

It occurred yesterday morning, near Maltrata, in the Gulf Coast state of Veracruz, about 200km east of Mexico City.

Investigators have yet to determine the cause of the crash, but say the bus was speeding when it swerved off a highway linking Mexico City and the port city of Veracruz, considered one of the country's most dangerous routes.

The driver was seen attempting to maneuver into a lane designed for vehicles that have brake or other mechanical failure, and the bus plowed through a metal guard rail before crashing to the bottom of the ravine.

The vehicle fell 200m, landing about 20km from Maltrata. It was smashed to pieces with both of its axles severed from its main body.

Just three people survived. A man and a woman were in a serious condition and an eight-year-old girl was conscious but had suffered multiple fractures, said Ranulfo Marquez, deputy director of civil protection for Veracruz state, where the crash occurred.

Marquez said by phone late yesterday that the dead had been identified as 29 women, 27 men and one 13-year-old boy.

All were Mexican citizens, and most hailed from three communities in Tabasco state, which borders Veracruz.

The driver was believed to be among those killed.

The bus, equipped to hold 46 passengers, was carrying 60, some of whom were standing.

Federal Preventive Police Commander Reinaldo Ascencio Cavazos said that the owner of the bus had been detained for questioning.

Marquez said the bus had been on the road for 22 years and was unfit for use.

It had already traveled for more than 10 hours as it returned to Tabasco from an Easter week gathering near the western city of Guadalajara.

The victims traveled to an event in Tequila, 60km northwest of Guadalajara, Mexico's second largest city, he said.

Hundreds of thousands of local residents filled the highways on Sunday and yesterday as they returned from Easter week vacations.

The holiday typically sees a large number of highway deaths.
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