* Calderon tweets message of condolence
* Four minors among the dead
(Adds details and number of injured)
MEXICO CITY, April 20 (Reuters) – At least 43 people were
killed when a cargo truck crashed into a bus on a highway in
eastern Mexico, in one of the worst traffic accidents the
country has suffered in recent years.
Pictures of the crash site near the municipality of Alamo
Temapache in Veracruz state showed the side of the bus ripped
open, with seats mangled by the impact and debris and luggage
strewn across the road.
Mexican officials said the vehicles were traveling in
opposite directions along the highway early on Friday when the
rear trailer of the truck decoupled, smashing into the bus.
After the two vehicles collided, another heavy truck
traveling behind the bus ploughed into the middle of the
trailer, Veracruz state government said.
Milenio news network said the bus was carrying 70
passengers, but only had capacity for less than 60. Four minors
were among the dead, a local municipal spokesman said.
President Felipe Calderon expressed his sadness over the
crash in a message posted on his Twitter account.
“My deepest condolences for the families of those who died
in the terrible accident this morning in Veracruz,” he said.
Veracruz’s government said 27 people were injured in the
crash, which occurred in a part of Mexico that has been plagued
by drug-related gang violence in recent years.
Five of the injured were seriously hurt, local media said.
(Reporting by Lizbeth Diaz and Cyntia Barrera Diaz; Editing by
Eric Walsh and Stacey Joyce)
