Mexico City. At least 18 people were killed when a bus plunged off a highway into a gorge in the Mexican state of Nayarit early Thursday. There were many Indians among the passengers. The officers provided this information.
Officials told that there were 42 passengers in the bus, most of them were foreigners. Among the foreign passengers boarding the bus were citizens of India, Dominican Republic and African countries. Some of them were going towards the American border.
The state public security agency said rescuers were working to pull people out of the crashed bus and the death toll could rise. The agency said in a statement posted on its Facebook page that about 21 passengers were injured in the incident. The condition of a woman among the injured is said to be critical.
The accident happened near Tepic, the state capital. Local media reports said the bus had left Mexico City and was headed to the border city of Tijuana. The Nayarit state government said the bus driver had been taken into custody. The officials suspect that he was driving at a high speed on a curve in the road which led to the accident.
Officials said they are still working to identify those who died on Thursday.
Nayarit’s Secretary of Security and Civil Defense, Jorge Benito Rodriguez, said: “The rescue operation has been extremely difficult, as the trench was about 40 meters (131 feet) deep.”