GUATEMALA CITY - At least 55 people were killed in Guatemala on Monday when a bus crashed through a guard rail and plunged into a ravine, authorities said, one of the worst road accidents in Latin America in years.
The bus was carrying around 70 people when it fell into a river contaminated with sewage in Guatemala City, creating difficult conditions for rescuers trying to retrieve bodies.
"So far, 53 people have died at the scene," a spokesman for the public prosecutor's office, Moises Ortiz, told reporters.
Two others died after they were admitted, along with several other people, to the San Juan de Dios Hospital, spokeswoman Marlyn Perez said.
The bodies recovered at the site were taken to an improvised morgue in a nearby community hall where several distressed relatives went, fearing the worst.
Injured passengers were taken to hospitals, many of them in serious condition.
Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo expressed sorrow over the tragedy and declared a three-day period of national mourning.
"Today is a difficult day for the Guatemalan nation," he said.
The fire department said the driver apparently lost control of the bus and collided with several small vehicles before plunging over the precipice.
"The bus kept going, broke through a metal railing, and fell into a ravine about 20 meters (65 feet) deep until it reached the sewage-contaminated river," the department's Carlos Hernandez told reporters.
The bus was traveling to Guatemala City from the town of San Agustin Acasaguastlan in El Progreso department, about 90 kilometers to the northeast, authorities said.