RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The death toll from a bus crash that occurred in Minas Gerais state on Friday rose to 19, and 11 people remain hospitalized, local medical sources reported Sunday, December 6th.
The latest victim was a 56-year-old woman who was admitted to the Intensive Care Center of Margarida de Joao Monlevade Hospital, according to the health center’s press office.
The crash occurred on a bridge on the BR-381 roadway in the municipality of João Monlevade, when the bus driver reversed and broke the bridge’s protection wall, causing the vehicle to fall from a height of 35 meters.
The bus was traveling from Mata Grande in the state of Alagoas to São Paulo, with 46 passengers on board as well as two drivers. Twelve people died at the scene of the accident, while another seven died in hospital as a result of their injuries.
According to the National Land Transport Agency (ANTT), the bus was not authorized to carry passengers and had received three fines for this in 2019.
The ANTT reported that as of Dec. 4, it had registered 2,490 incidents involving the illegal transportation of passengers in Brazil.