An improvised party bus carrying 51 Quechua Indians, including 14 children, in southeastern Peru plunged off a cliff into a river Friday night, killing everyone on board.
The red and yellow cargo truck was on its way back from a party in the provincial capital of Santa Teresa when it went off the road and fell about 650 feet into a deep ravine, ending up in the Chaupimayo river, according to the Associated Press.
“We haven’t found a single survivor,” said firefighter Capt. David Taboada, who led the rescue operation, AP reported.
Police couldn’t confirm how the accident occurred, but Mr. Taboada said the vehicle was “coming from a party in Santa Teresa at which a lot of alcohol was consumed.”
No public buses exist in Santa Teresa so many locals and rural farmers rely on informal forms of transport.
The high-altitude roads of the Peruvian Andes are extremely dangerous, with more than 4,000 people killed in such accidents last year, AP reported.
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.