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Peru Pasamayo: Dozens killed as coach plunges off cliff | Peru Pasamayo: Dozens killed as coach plunges off cliff |
(about 4 hours later) | |
At least 48 people have been killed after a coach plummeted 100m (330ft) down a cliff and landed upside down on a beach in Peru, officials say. | At least 48 people have been killed after a coach plummeted 100m (330ft) down a cliff and landed upside down on a beach in Peru, officials say. |
The health ministry said six people had survived the accident, one of whom had jumped from the bus before it fell. | |
The accident happened on a notorious stretch of road known as Curva del Diablo (devil's bend) in Pasamayo, north of the capital Lima. | |
The coach, with more than 50 people on board, collided with a lorry. | |
Transit police said the lorry driver had been detained for questioning. | |
Perilous road | |
The bus, which belongs to the San Martín de Porres transport company, was travelling to Lima from Huacho, about 130km (80 miles) north of the capital. | |
The stretch of road winding alongside the Pacific Ocean where the accident happened is considered one of the most dangerous in Peru. | |
It has no barriers separating it from a sheer drop to the ocean and the sea spray and frequent fog can make it particularly slippery. | |
The bus company that said its driver was very experienced and was travelling with an assistant. The company also said that the bus had passed a mechanical check before leaving Huacho. | |
Footage showed rescue workers struggling to reach the bus, with a helicopter winching down some emergency workers while others were lowered down the cliff with ropes. | |
Rescue work had to be halted overnight as the tide rose and engulfed parts of the coach. A Peruvian navy boat helped get the rescuers off the beach. | |
Local media reported that one of the passengers managed to survive by jumping out of the coach before it plunged down the cliff. | |
The doctor in the hospital where 24-year-old Máximo Jiménez Vilcayaure was being treated for a broken arm said the man had jumped out of a window and onto the tarmac with seconds to spare. | |
Five other survivors were pulled from the wreckage and are being treated for multiple fractures. | |
Twenty-four bodies have so far been recovered. | |
Peru's President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski said it was "painful for the whole country to suffer an accident of this magnitude". | Peru's President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski said it was "painful for the whole country to suffer an accident of this magnitude". |
He sent a message of "deep solidarity" to the families of the victims. | He sent a message of "deep solidarity" to the families of the victims. |