Brazil: 38 killed in tragic bus-truck collision on highway in Minas Gerais

At least 38 people have been confirmed dead following a devastating traffic collision between a bus and a truck in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais.

The incident occurred on December 21 morning on highway BR-116 near the city of Teófilo Otoni, according to fire department officials who responded to the scene. The death toll, initially reported as 22, was later revised upwards as rescue teams continued to recover victims from the wreckage, Caliber.Az reports via foreign media.

The collision took place around 4 a.m. when the bus, traveling from São Paulo with 45 passengers aboard, reportedly suffered a blown tyre. The loss of control caused the bus to crash into a lorry. A subsequent vehicle collision involved a car, though all three passengers in the car survived, fire department officials stated. Tragically, the bus burst into flames following the crash, further exacerbating the devastation.

Images from the scene depicted the wreckage of the crash, with a truck perched atop a crushed car, its giant wheel embedded in the car's roof. The highway was littered with twisted metal, charred remains, and shredded bus seats, with blankets and belongings tangled in the destruction. Uniformed personnel were seen working to clear the wreckage, with a crane brought in to reach parts of the bus that had been completely crushed. Additional victims were still being retrieved as emergency crews worked tirelessly to remove those trapped.

Governor Romeu Zema of Minas Gerais expressed his sorrow over the tragedy, ordering a full mobilization of resources to assist the victims and their families. "We are working to ensure that the families of the victims are welcomed so that they can face this tragedy in the most humane way possible on the eve of Christmas," he said in a statement on social media. Zema also made available the aircraft of the governor's military office to assist in rescue efforts.

Authorities confirmed that 13 additional passengers were taken to hospitals in the area for treatment. While the exact cause of the tyre failure remains under investigation, the crash is one of Brazil’s deadliest in recent years.

Brazil, which has a higher road traffic fatality rate than many other countries in the region, has been working to reduce road deaths. The UN's 2021 statistics placed Brazil's road traffic death rate at 15.7 per 100,000 people, significantly higher than Argentina’s rate of 8.8 per 100,000. The Brazilian government aims to halve fatalities on its roads by the end of the decade, a goal that would save an estimated 86,000 lives between 2021 and 2030.

By Khagan Isayev