Cusco: seven dead after bus accident that took alternate route due to road blockades (El Comercio [Spanish] - 12/19/2022)

Cusco: seven dead after bus accident that took alternate route due to road blockades

The incident occurred in the Totora Alta sector of the Totora peasant community. The most seriously injured were transferred to Cusco.

This morning seven people died and dozens of people were injured after the overturning of the E.T. Olivares bus with license plate A2L-709, at a drop of approximately 50 meters from the road in the Totora Alta sector of the Totora peasant community of the district of Livitaca, belonging to the Cusco province of Chumbivilcas.

According to preliminary information, at 04:30 in the afternoon of last Sunday the bus departed from Cusco to Chamaca. However, given the blockades registered in the district of Combapata, Canchis, another alternative route was taken through the sector of the Populated Center of Chuquicahuana of the district of Checacupe, Canchis, which caused the trip to extend for more than 10 hours (7 hours of travel is usual).

The incident caused the death of seven people, adults and minors, including the driver of the unit. Also, more than fifteen wounded were taken to nearby health centers and in most cases evacuated to hospitals in the imperial city.

Personnel of the National Police of Peru (PNP), health centers in the area, SAMUE and residents supported the transfer of the wounded. Most of those affected returned to their work centers in the district municipality of Chamaca, Livita and health centers.

"It is a bus that has departed from the city of Cusco, the accident occurred at 04:30 am, there are many accidents, more than 40 passengers were coming. We have made the possible ways to evacuate all the patients, as health personnel we have been busy, but thank God we managed to evacuate alive. We have tried to save all the patients who were injured," said Alex Alvis Cruz, technical staff of the Pataqueña Health Center, Livitaca.

He added that: "In Livitaca the patients with minor injuries remained, the serious ones we have brought to Cusco, thanks to the support with mobility of the inhabitants. Since yesterday the bus has departed, some people say that the accident occurred because of the driver's tired sleep for so many hours of travel."

PNP Colonel Antonio Loreño, chief of the Cusco police region, said that the causes of the incident are being investigated. "The bus took a route in Livitaca which is a very narrow track. As it is a rollover, there could be a bad maneuver or blinking of the driver, we do not know precisely, but the fact is tragic because it caused the death of several people. Already the investigations will determine the causes of the fact if they were due to mechanical or driver problems, many times they travel at night or at dawn and as the road is narrow and an accident can originate, we can not advance it, the investigations will determine it, "he said.

The blockades on the roads that articulate Cusco and the provinces of Quispicanchi and Canchis have been constant since last Monday 12 of this month due to the indefinite strike. Although the PNP managed to free some sections, the demonstrators closed it again this morning.

"In Sicuani, Canchis, from Combapata the roads are blocked, as well as the main roads that go to Arequipa and Puno, Espinar is free. We are in conversations, they [the demonstrators] have released yesterday all day the traffic of vehicles that were stranded for several days, they lifted their protest measure, but this morning they resumed their measure again, we are in constant dialogue" added the police authority.