12 Confirmed Dead in Mexico Bus Crash; 8 Americans Among Them

VOA News
Last Updated: 20 December 2017 (7:17PM)

Twelve people have been killed – with eight Americans among them - in Mexico Tuesday after a tour bus carrying passengers from Royal Caribbean cruise ships crashed along a highway. Two Swedes, one Canadian and a tour guide were also among the dead.

Local officials said excessive speed and driver negligence were to blame when the bus carrying 31 passengers flipped and struck a tree.

The bus was traveling to Mayan ruins in the state of Quintana Roo - home to the popular resort city of Cancun.

The state government said four Americans, three Canadians, four Brazilians and two Swedes were hospitalized with injuries. The Swedes were transported to the U.S. for treatment.

By Wednesday afternoon, only one Brazilian and three Americans remained in local hospitals, officials told the Associated Press.

The Swedish and Canadian governments confirmed the deaths of their citizens, but the U.S. embassy in Mexico City confirmed only that there were "multiple'' American deaths and several injuries.