Bolivia mourns as 13 killed in highway crash between truck and bus

At least 13 people were killed and three others injured on December 20 when a truck collided with a bus on a highway in the Bolivian Andes, according to police reports.

Initial investigations suggest that the truck driver lost control of the vehicle before crashing into the bus on the road connecting Bolivia's capital, La Paz, to the city of Oruro.

Police are still looking into the exact cause of the tragic accident.

“We are deeply saddened by the traffic accident that occurred on the La Paz-Oruro highway, which claimed 13 lives. We have ordered a thorough investigation to understand the circumstances of this tragic event, as the people of Bolivia mourn this loss,” President Luis Arce expressed in a statement on his Telegram channel, Caliber.Az reports.

Photographs circulating on social media showed the bus, with a capacity of 21, alongside several bodies lying on the road.

La Paz Transit Police Chief Marco Cespedes confirmed the death toll, stating, “At the scene, 13 people have been identified as having lost their lives.” He also reported that three survivors were injured and transported to a hospital in El Alto, a city near La Paz.

Road accidents are a significant concern in Bolivia, with government data showing an average of 1,400 fatalities and 40,000 injuries annually, in a country of about 12 million people. Driver error and mechanical failures are often cited as the main causes of these accidents.

In a similar incident in July, a head-on collision between a truck and a bus in western Bolivia resulted in 22 deaths and 16 injuries.

By Tamilla Hasanova