Cinthya Carbajal/AFP/Getty Images
Relatives of the passengers wait for news about their loved ones outside the Mariscal Hospital in Ayacucho, Peru, on July 16, 2024.
CNN
—
At least 23 people are dead in Peru after a bus plummeted over 650 feet into a ravine on Tuesday while traveling from the capital Lima to the southern city of Ayacucho, authorities said.
Search and rescue operations are underway, the country’s Interior Ministry said on X, adding that 13 people are injured.
The accident happened around 5 a.m. local time and the cause is unknown, authorities said.
All of those injured are being treated in nearby hospitals.
Peru’s mountainous roads have seen several deadly accidents in the past few years.
In April 2021, a bus accident occurred in Peru’s Áncash department, around 280 miles from Lima, leaving 20 people dead and 14 injured.
In February 2022, another 20 people died and 33 were injured after a bus derailed and fell into a 330 foot ravine in the Pataz province, in northern Peru.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
