More than 20 dead in Bolivia’s worst road accident this year | News

According to initial investigations, the truck had entered the oncoming lane while attempting to overtake another vehicle.

According to police, 22 people were killed and 16 injured in a head-on collision between a truck and a bus on a highway in the Bolivian Andes. It was the country’s worst traffic accident this year.

Fourteen of the dead have been identified so far, police said on Sunday. The Chilean Foreign Ministry said at least one of them was a Chilean citizen.

Officials had previously stated that the drivers of both vehicles were among the dead.

According to broadcaster Unitel, the accident occurred on a road between the Bolivian city of Patacamaya and the city of Tambo Quemado in northern Chile.

The bus was traveling towards Chile on the busy trade and tourist route that connects the two South American countries.

Initial investigations revealed that the truck had entered the oncoming lane while attempting to overtake a vehicle, said traffic police officer Nilo Torrico.

“This truck performed a prohibited maneuver and as a result this unfortunate accident occurred,” he said.

Images of the accident shared by Unitel showed the bus with its front end smashed and the truck. Several bodies were visible on the road.

Rescue workers are in the process of recovering the bodies trapped in the destroyed vehicles, Torrico said.

According to government statistics, there are about 1,400 road deaths in Bolivia each year. Most accidents are due to driver error and mechanical failures.

On April 4, 14 people were killed and two injured in a collision on a busy road in southwest Bolivia.