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Bus accident kills 20 people in Bolivia

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-08-18 05:15

LA PAZ: At least 20 people died and 26 were injured on Sunday when a bus felt into a 200-meter cliff in Los Yungas highway, some 70 kilometers to La Paz, the Operative Organization of Transit reported on Monday.

According to the first reports, the drivers lost control of the bus from Veloz del Norte company, in Florida town near Yanacachi municipality.

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The accident occurred on early morning of Sunday when the bus was covering the route Chulumani-La Paz.

Officers from the Operative Organization of Transit were investigating the causes of the accident, however, according to the first reports, the bus had mechanic failures.

The Yungas road, some 80 kilometers long, is known as "the death road," with a yearly average of 200 accidents and 100 mortal victims.

According to the Inter American Development Bank (IDB), the Yungas road is "the most dangerous of the world."

On June 1, another accident in the same road killed 17 people and injured 15, few kilometers from Villa Barrientos town, when a bus going from La Asunta to La Paz also felt into a cliff.