RSOE EDIS: Peru - Vehicle Accident - 2009.12.24

RSOE Emergency and Disaster Information Service Budapest, Hungary RSOE EDIS ALERTMAIL

2009-12-24 20:41:31 - Vehicle Accident - Peru EDIS CODE: VI-20091224-24296-PER Date & Time: 2009-12-24 20:41:31 [UTC] Area: Peru, Provincia de Cusco, , Santo Tomas Number of death person(s): 40 Number of Injured person(s): 10 Damage level: Heavy (Level 3) Not confirmed information! Description: A passenger bus plunged into a ravine in the high Andes of southern Peru on Thursday, killing at least 40 people and wounding some 10 others, police said. Authorities said more than 50 people were aboard when the bus traveling between Arequipa, ru's second largest city, and the town of Santo Tomas, near Cusco, veered off the road and tumbled 200 meters (yards) down a mountainside, police captain Juan Suarez said."There are 40 dead at the moment and I don't have the exact number of wounded, there are about 10," Suarez told AFP, adding that the crash occurred early Thursday about 1,100 kilometers (680 miles) from the capital Lima. Suarez said the bus left late Wednesday and had been traveling to Santo Tomas, a peasant village in Chumbivilca province, when it crashed. Highway police General Enrique Medrie told reporters that "there were reports of overcrowding of passengers," with a travel crush common on Christmas Eve. Edilberto Tenquipa of the Espinar fire company near the crash site said police and fire brigades were at the scene seeking to transfer the wounded to hospital, but that rescue efforts were difficult. Posted:2009-12-24 20:41:31 [UTC] Please DO NOT reply to this message: replies may be treated as errors and result in your subscription being deleted. If you have trouble or other queries, send email to havaria@rsoe.hu RSOE EDIS is operated by the National Association of Radio-Distress Signalling and Infocommunications (RSOE), Budapest, Hungary. Because of the complexity of this system and its dependence on other systems, we cannot be responsible for delays or failures in forwarding or transmission. You're receiving this AlertMail because you subscribed for the service. To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. Contact: havaria@rsoe.hu