Thursday, July 05, 2007

Landslide Buries Bus in Mexico



Today there was a tragic accident when a busload of at least 40 passengers was buried by a landslide which resulted in the deaths of over 26 passengers so far. The bus was headed for Tehuacan which is where we stop for the first night of this years La Carrera Panamericana.

Soldiers and rescue workers recovered 26 bodies from the bus but held out little hope of finding survivors. Frantically digging through tons of earth and rock, hundreds of soldiers and rescue workers braved threats of additional slides to pull victims from the bus which was believed to be carrying between 40 and 60 passengers. The state's chief of ambulance services told the Televisa television network that "All are dead," but did not explain how he knew that. He said workers had only gained access to a small section of the bus. One official said, "All the mountains are risky. ... It's nature."

Authorities are considering dynamiting the rest of the mountain once rescue efforts end to avoid future landslides, saying its "current condition is a great risk."
Heavy rainfall across Mexico this week has triggered flooding and landslides that killed several people.

Update; So far, all but two of the 32 victims -- aged 6 to 48 -- have been identified, Puebla's state government said.


California's Best Racing Team would like to offer our sincere condolences to those families who lost loved ones in this terrible accident.

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