At least 42 killed after tourist bus in Brazil plunges into ravine

At least 42 people were killed when a tour bus plunged into a wooded ravine in southern Brazil. The toll had initially been put at about 30 but the number rose as rescuers continued to find bodies at the difficult-to-access crash site in Santa Catarina state, government spokesman Cladio Thomas said. Three children who had been rescued died later at a nearby hospital, Thomas said, noting the toll could rise still further. The tour bus plunged 400 meters into a ravine filled with thick vegetation as night fell, complicating search efforts. Fifty people were supposed to be on the bus, but authorities believed the number of passengers was higher than that. The crash site was near a lookout point in the Dona Francisca mountains, a popular stop for tourists. Witnesses told local press that the driver lost control on the curvy stretch of highway, but the cause was still under investigation.

There are people out there, on the hill, in the bus, trapped in the wreckage. But the chance of finding someone alive are pretty slim.

State police colonel Nelson Coelho

Accidents on this winding road are common. The O Estado newspaper said 66 people had been killed on the highway in the last five years. In 2007, 27 people were killed in a single accident and another crash in 1999 left 35 dead. With the economy growing and the population topping 200 million, an estimated 10,000 new cars are added to the roads every day. Brazil has some of Latin America’s deadliest roads. Despite nearly a decade of sustained economic growth that only slowed in recent years, the country has done little to improve or expand its creaky infrastructure. The country averages more than 18 highway deaths per 100,000 people per year, compared with only about 10 in high-income countries, according to a report by the Inter-American Development Bank. The tolls in nearby Argentina, Colombia and Chile average only about 13.

brazil bus Americas