15 killed in Peru road accidents

Lima, Sep 23 (IANS) At least 15 people were killed and another 45 injured early Sunday in two separate road accidents in Peru, police said.

The worst of the two crashes occurred around daybreak along the highway linking Huancane and Puno towns in the high-plateau region of Puno which borders Bolivia, Xinhua reported citing Peru’s Highway Police (Polcar).

As many as 12 people died in the crash caused by a triple collision between three buses. At least 15 have been reported injured.

Many of the victims appear to have been miners who were traveling aboard two vehicles that were hit head-on by a third. At least one of the buses was completely destroyed by the impact.

Police said they were able to identify the 12 victims, including a woman.

Rescue workers were trying to retrieve all of the victims’ bodies from the wreckage.

The second accident occurred when a public transit van collided head-on with a truck, also around daybreak, but in the La Libertad region, some 550 km northwest of the capital Lima in Viru province. The collision left three people dead and 30 injured, six being in critical condition.

The cause of the first crash was not determined as yet, but the second was reportedly due to heavy fog that blanketed the area.