At least 31 people were killed after a bus collided with a SUV on a highway in southern Bolivia on Monday.
The impact of the crash plunged the bus into a 1,600-foot-deep ravine in Potosí and left 22 people injured, including the truck driver.
The youngest victim was identified as 11-year-old Phillip Martilano Flores, according to a list that was released by Potosí Departmental Police.
The bus, which is owned by Challapata Fleet, departed from Orubu and was traveling to a station in Potosí when it slammed head into the SUV.
Police arrested the SUV driver, Grover Portillo, 23, who suffered a leg injury and was hospitalized.
Portillo, who has been accused by authorities for being responsible for the accident, said that the bus drove into his lane moments before the crash.
‘I don’t remember anything,’ Portillo said, as quoted by Bolivian newspaper El Deber. ‘I only know that I was going this way, in my lane, the [bus] just came, it appeared suddenly, I wanted to turn and I couldn’t.’
President Luis Arce expressed condolences for the victims on social media.
‘This unfortunate event must be investigated to establish responsibilities,’ he said in a post on Facebook. ‘We send our most sincere condolences to the bereaved families, wishing them the necessary strength to face these difficult times.’
The crash comes just days after 37 people died and 40 were injured after two buses collided on a road that connects the western Bolivian cities of Colchani and Uyuni.
A preliminary report indicated that one of the buses encroached into the oncoming lane, presumably due to speeding, and caused the collision, the Bolivian Ministry of Government said in a statement.
Authorities deployed a crane had to turn over one of the buses which had rolled over onto its side.
First responders were also seen removing bodies from the debris and carrying them away in wrapped blankets.
