Christmas traffic accidents leave at least 15 dead in Bolivia

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – “The most tragic case was recorded on Saturday [December 25] afternoon in the town of San Juan, on the highway from La Paz to Chulumani (tropical north), where a bus capsized leaving so far 9 dead and at least 25 injured,” Sosa told the press.

Several of the injured, hospitalized in a La Paz facility, were in critical condition, according to the police chief.

The death toll related to this accident, which local media attributed to the deterioration of the dirt road due to heavy rains in recent days, was not included in the balance of weather-related accidents reported separately by the Vice-Ministry of Civil Defense.

Images disclosed on social networks showed the twisted remains of the bus at the bottom of a ravine more than 200 meters deep.

In other urban traffic accidents in the departments of Santa Cruz (east), Cochabamba (center) and Tarija (south), 7 people lost their lives, the police chief added.

Since mid-December, Bolivia has been enduring a particularly heavy rainfall spell, in a wet season that has just begun, which has placed almost a third of its 340 municipalities in a state of emergency due to overflowing rivers and floods.