7 dead, 5 critical in Cuban bus crash

HAVANA — Seven people died and five are in critical condition after a bus crashed carrying tourists and local travellers in far eastern Cuba.

State media report that the bus was carrying 18 Cubans and 22 tourists from Holland, Great Britain, France, Mexico and Canada when it crashed Thursday afternoon on a road between the cities of Baracoa and Guantanamo. The names and nationalities of those killed haven’t been released.

The driver told Radio Guantanamo that he lost control on the wet and winding road. Cuban highways are poorly lit, narrow and rutted with huge potholes. Thursday’s wreck was the fourth major bus accident in a month.