Living in Peru : your everyday companion

(LIP-wb) -- At least 50 people died in an accident on the Carabaya-Puno highway near the border to Bolivia in Southern Peru, when a bus of the "Madre de Dios" company fell into an abyss of approximately 500 meters.

The exact number of victims has not yet been confirmed.

Apparently excessive speed may have caused the fatal accident. First reports say only two passengers, a 48-year old man and a 6-year old boy, survived.

Rescue efforts have become increasingly difficult because nearby highway blockades erected by protesting settlers are preventing medical units and firemen from accessing the area.

Since last night settlers from the province of Islay, Arequipa, block about seven kilometers of the South Pan-American highway demanding that regional administrations grants an irrigation project in Moquegua.

Peru's national government recently launched a "Zero Tolerance" initiative which is supposed to ensure that necessary safety measures are observed by inter-provincial bus companies. Until Monday, 708 omnibuses in Lima did not meet technical requirements or overworked bus drivers were not in good physical condition to circulate Peru's highways.

It is expected that more than 500 bus carriers from Peru's regions of Huánuco, Junín and Ancash will go on strike within the next days to protest against the obligatory operation license and other regulations demanded by plan "Zero Tolerance", informed the association of inter-provincial bus carriers in central Peru.

Carlos Martinez, president of the union, affirmed that this measure requests fuel price reductions and lower insurance payments, among others.

- related articles -

- Peru bus plunge kills at least 45 despite govt campaign (Reuters, Dec. 5, 2006)
- Dozens killed in Peru bus crash (BBC News, Dec. 5, 2006)
- Bus Crash in Peru Leaves 45 People Dead (Guardian, Dec. 5, 2006)

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