( OAN )
At least 18 people were killed after a passenger bus fell off a highway into a ravine on its way to Tijuana, Mexico on Thursday.
🇲🇽 #BusAccident: Fatal bus crash in #Mexico leaves 18 dead! Migrant and local passengers on ill-fated bus suffer devastating accident, with citizens from various nations among the victims.#accident pic.twitter.com/SrgcgJgBMq — WE News English (@WENewsEnglish) August 4, 2023
According to the authorities, the bus was carrying both locals and foreign migrants. The 42 passengers on the bus included citizens from India, Dominican Republic and some African countries.
Officials have detained the driver of the bus, suspecting him of speeding and losing control of the bus which led to the bus plummeting down an embarkment on the side of the highway. The bus was part of the Elite passenger line and crashed near Barranca Blanca on the highway outside of the state capital.
The security and civil protection secretary for Nayarit said that rescue efforts have been very difficult due to the size of the ravine which was around 130 feet deep. However, the state public safety agency said that rescuers were still working on recovering people from the bus.
22 passengers on the bus were injured and transported to the hospital, and rescue workers are still working on identifying who had died during the crash, three of which have been identified as minors.
Mexico has seen an increase in rise in such accidents recently leading to the increase in deaths. In July at least 29 people were killed when a bus had fell into a different ravine in the state of Oxaca.