LIMA, May 15, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - At least 16 people were killed Tuesday in
Peru when a bus rolled off a ledge in the mountainous Ayacucho region,
authorities said.

The bus was carrying more than 40 passengers high in the Andes, where such
tragedies are not uncommon.

Ayacucho official Wiber Vega told reporters that 13 bodies had already been
recovered and three more had yet to be retrieved from under the bus. "Yes, we
have 16 dead," he said.

Bad weather including falling hail was delaying the recovery of the remaining
bodies, Vega added.

The crash occurred early Tuesday as the bus was traveling from Lima to the
city of Ayacucho on a zigzag stretch of the Libertadores highway, the health
ministry said in a statement.

The bus overturned and rolled down a slope, landing upside down.

Such accidents are frequent in Peru due to drivers going too fast on poorly
maintained roads, among other issues.

On April 30, at least 25 people died after a bus fell into a ravine in the
Cajamarca region.

Peru registered a total of 3,138 deaths from traffic accidents in 2023,
according to the Ministry of Transportation.

Seventy percent of accidents are due to human factors such as driver
incompetence or fatigue, according to official data.