Fatal collision claims over dozen lives in Honduras, with many injured
All 17 people killed and 14 injured in the bus collision were Hondurans travelling in a small bus.
Two buses collided head-on Wednesday in a village in western Honduras, and 17 people were killed and 14 others injured, four of them seriously, authorities have said.
Officials said witnesses in La Montanita reported the two buses were travelling at a moderate speed when the accident happened.
A large bus carried only its driver and an assistant as they returned from the Agua Caliente customs post on the border with Guatemala after dropping off a group of migrants, authorities said. A smaller bus was travelling in the opposite direction and was full of passengers.
“All the injured and deceased were travelling in the small bus and are Hondurans. The large bus was empty,” Alexia Mejia, spokeswoman for the 911 emergency system in western Honduras, told The Associated Press.
The injured were taken to Western Regional Hospital, and officials said the four with severe injuries would be taken by helicopter to a hospital in the city of San Pedro Sula.
Honduras accidents
Road accidents are the second cause of death in Honduras after murders, according to official figures.
President Xiomara Castro said on X she had learnt of the crash "with deep consternation and pain," and offered condolences to the next of kin of those who died.
"I have instructed the relevant teams and institutions to provide all the necessary support at this difficult time," she added.
Thousands of migrants cross through Honduras every day from South America on the long road to the United States in search of a better life.
In October last year, four migrants died when a bus crashed into a ravine in the same region.