Seventy people were injured and at least three dozen killed in a crash between three buses and an ice truck in the pre-dawn hours of Monday, March 23, 2015 in Huarmey, Peru. Huarmey is located some 225 miles northward of Lima, the nation’s capital city, in Ancash. Of the three buses involved in the crash, at least two were double-decker buses carrying a multitude of passengers.
Reports state that one bus, run by Murga Serrano, swerved into an oncoming lane of traffic for unknown reasons, causing it to smash headlong into the other two buses and the ice truck at an unknown rate of speed. Bus travel is essential to daily Peruvian life, being a form of transit used by many commuters on a day-to-day basis. The mass collision took place on Pan American Highway, a thoroughfare used by many Peruvian people for north-south travel throughout the extensive country.
One of the buses—though it is unknown whether it is the vehicle that reportedly caused the crash—was carrying a slew of congregants from the Worldwide Missionary Movement. It is not yet known whether the individuals traveling aboard this bus were Peruvian nationals. An investigation is currently underway, with preliminary findings pointing at the possibility of driver fatigue being the cause of the swerving or drifting that brought on the deadly crash.
News photos paint a grisly tale of damage, with the buses torn asunder, seats exposed. Half a dozen of the wounded were airlifted by helicopter from the scene of the crash, and others were transported by way of emergency ground vehicles to area hospitals to receive medical care. The exact nature of the injuries and survival expectancy has not yet been released to the press. The Murga Serrano bus was reportedly split in two upon impact, leaving victims scattered across the pavement as it smashed into the three other vehicles before finally coming to a halt.
According to crash data released by the World Health Organization, Peru was host to more than 4,600 traffic deaths in 2010. Peruvian roadways are notoriously dangerous for drivers, in part due to poor pavement maintenance and other factors. Driver fatigue, such as that suspected to have played a role in this fatal crash, is a significant problem worldwide in terms of traffic accident causes. It is not yet known whether charges will be filed as a result of this horrific accident.