More than a dozen killed in Guatemala as truck ploughs into crowd

The truck struck a group of people who had gone onto the road to inspect another person who had been earlier hit by a car, Cecilio Chacaj, a spokesman for the local fire department says.

Traffic rules are frequently ignored in Guatema la, a Central American country of some 16.5 million people.
Reuters

Traffic rules are frequently ignored in Guatema la, a Central American country of some 16.5 million people.

A truck crashed into a crowd of people in western Guatemala on Wednesday evening, killing at least 18 people, authorities said.

The accident occurred at the entry point to the western town of Nahuala, which has a population of around 65,000, the majority of whom are K’iche’ Maya.

The truck struck a group of people who had gone onto the road to inspect another person who had been hit by a car, Cecilio Chacaj, a spokesman for the local fire department, told Reuters.

Chacaj revised the death toll of the accident to 18 after earlier saying that at least 30 people had died in the mishap.

Public Health Minister Carlos Soto earlier said on local radioThe crash killed at least 32 people, and nine people were admitted to hospitals in a critical condition, .

The driver fled the scene in his truck and his whereabouts are unknown.

The group had congregated at the site of an earlier hit-and-run accident that had killed a resident of their neighborhood when they in turn were hit by the truck, Chacaj added.

Local reports said the man killed in the first accident was a community leader and president of the state Council of Urban and Rural Development.

The truck did not have its lights on when it struck the group of people which may have been why the driver did not spot them, according to local media.

"At this time we are coordinating our response to bring full support to the relatives of the victims," President Jimmy Morales wrote in a post on Twitter. "My heartfelt condolences."

A video circulating on social media showed bodies strewn on the roadway while several people cry and shout for help.

The crash marked one of the country's worst traffic accidents in recent years. 

In 2013, a bus plunged off a cliff in rural Guatemala, killing at least 43 people and injuring dozens. 

Traffic rules are frequently ignored in Guatema la, a Central American country of some 16.5 million people.

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