AT LEAST 44 DEAD, DOZENS INJURED AS DOUBLE-DECKER BUS VEERS OFF CLIFF
LIMA, PERU Police say at least 44 people were killed when a double-deck bus veered off a highway and tumbled 200 metres down a cliff in southern Peru.
Highway Police chief Jorge Castillo tells The Associated Press that the death toll has risen as officers count more bodies. Police say about two dozen people are injured, but they’re not sure how many people were aboard. Air force helicopters are helping rescue survivors.
The accident took place before dawn Wednesday near a river in the coastal province of Camana.
The cause wasn’t immediately known, but accidents caused by reckless driving on poorly maintained mountain roads claim dozens of lives every year in Peru. In January 52 people were killed in the country’s worst road fatality in four decades.