Honduras bus crash leaves 14 dead and 55 injured
Bus veered off road and crashed into ravine
- By Ruth Doherty , Nov 1, 2014
- Updated: November 1, 2014 8:10 AM
AFP/Getty Images
At least 14 people have died after a bus crashed into a ravine in Honduras.
Fourteen people were killed and 55 injured when the bus ran off the road and crashed into a ravine near San Juan de Opoa, Department of Copan, Honduras, about 310 miles north of Tegucigalpa.
AFP reports that according to officials, speeding may have been the cause of the crash.
According to Reuters, Moises Alvarado, head of the country's emergency services commission COPECO, said the bus was carrying 69 people when it crashed.
The passengers were members of a Jehovah's Witness church and were travelling from the northern icy of Choloma when the crash happened.
AFP/Getty Images
Zee News reports that around 50 rescue workers and volunteers helped to retrieve the bodies, and pulled the bus from the ravine with a system of makeshift pulleys.
The site also suggests preliminary reports suggested the crash was caused by speeding, exacerbated by wet conditions.
Local media reported the head of the National Transit Bureau (DNT), Quintin Juarez, as saying: "Once again, we must lament the recklessness of drivers."
The group's religious beliefs reportedly complicated treatment of the injured as blood transfusions are prohibited.
Fox News Latino reports that Honduran President Juan Orlando tweeted a message of condolence, writing: "We are at one with the families of the San Juan de Opos victims. God be with them and give them strength in this moment of sorrow."
Fire Department chief Edgardo Orellana told reporters that the number of dead "could increase" as a number of passengers were in a critical condition. Source: http://travel.aol.co.uk/2014/11/01/honduras-bus-crash-14-dead-55-injured/
