At Least 9 Dead in Peru Bus Crash

Smita Nordwall, VOA News
10 July 2017 (0:41AM)

At least nine people were killed and 25 others injured when a tourist bus flipped on its side and plunged off a cliff in Peru Sunday night, authorities said.

Peru's Ministry of Health said in a statement on its website that the accident happened about 2 kilometers from the presidential palace in Lima. The bus had likely been traveling at excessive speed, the ministry said

The double-decker bus, carrying about 50 passengers, including children, was driving on San Cristobal hill to give the tourists a panoramic view of the city.

Authorities are working to confirm the identity of the victims, but media reports say at least two children were among the dead.

At least two foreign nationals, a Canadian and a Chilean, are thought to be among the injured.

Bus and other vehicle accidents in the South American country are commonplace due to its mountainous terrain.