La Paz, June 28 (IANS/EFE) At least 28 people were killed and 44 injured when a bus plunged into a ravine in Bolivia, police said.
The bus carrying 70 passengers was travelling from the central city of Cochabamba to the southwestern city of Potosi when it went off the road near the Pongo K’asa area around 1.30 a.m. Sunday after the brakes failed, said Cochabamba police commander Col. Hernan Trujillo.
The driver’s assistant told passengers to move into the back of the bus because the brakes were not working, injured passengers said.
Most of the injured were taken to clinics in Quillacollo, but those with serious injuries were transported to a hospital in Cochabamba.
One child was killed and 16 others were injured in the accident, Trujillo said.
The bus driver, identified as Roberto Gandarillas, tried to run away after the accident but was arrested and tested to determine whether he had been drinking, the official Patria Nueva radio reported.
Investigators are trying to determine whether the bus was overloaded.
