Lima, June 26: A bus traveling from Lima to Peru's Amazon region overturned on a highway in the Andes Mountains, leaving at least 18 people dead and 48 injured, authorities said Friday. The double-decker bus belonging to the company “Expreso Molina Líder Internacional” went off the road and fell down a slope in the district of Palca, Junín region, Junin's health director Clifor Curipaco told reporters. Authorities are still investigating the cause of the accident.

Videos broadcast on local television showed the bus split in two, while firefighters and police tried to rescue the injured. It was not the first fatal bus accident in 2025, another bus fell into a river on Jan. 3, leaving six people dead and 32 injured. Earthquake in Peru: Quake of Magnitude 7.2 Strikes Coast of Peru, Tsunami Warning Issued (Watch Videos).

A study by the Attorney General's Office found that d river recklessness and excessive speed are the main causes of accidents in Peru. Road transportation is poorly monitored by authorities in Peru, and emergency assistance is so slow and disorganized. In 2024, there were approximately 3,173 deaths as a result of traffic accidents in the South American country, according to official data from the Death Information System.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)