At least 39 migrants died and more than 20 were injured when a bus fell off a cliff early Wednesday morning in the Gualaca area, in western Panama.
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“Preliminary information on this incident handled by the Fire Department indicates that 39 people have unfortunately lost their lives,” the Ministry of Public Security said in a statement.
The wounded “are being treated in different hospitals and health centers,” added the official statement, which confirmed that the bus, license plate 5B-54, was carrying 66 passengers.
At least 39 people died in the northern border area of #Panama following a bus carrying more than 60 migrants fell off a cliff early Wednesday morning. https://t.co/UinEcGYQer pic.twitter.com/mIuxuomk2r
— NicaraguaActual (@NicaraguaActual)
February 15, 2023
Panamanian authorities confirmed that more than 60 passengers were traveling when the accident occurred in the Los Planes de Gualaca area following the driver lost control of the vehicle and threw himself from the mountainous street.
In this sense, the director of the Migration Service, Samira Gozaine, pointed out that “the bus driver passed the entrance and turned around to return to the shelter, at that moment he fell on a slope.”
#15Feb | The number of deaths rose to 39 following the accident of a bus carrying migrants in Gualaca, Panama.
The authorities will offer an official version following determining how the events occurred.
��: @presscom pic.twitter.com/zTkDaKstOe
— The Diary (@eldiario)
February 15, 2023
Meanwhile, members of the Land Transit and Transportation Authority (ATTT) and the Public Ministry (MP) arrived in Gualaca to clarify the event that was reported around 04:30 local time.
The Minister of Public Security, Juan Pino, said that “we wait for the results to see what happened. This marks for us what the traffic always tells us, the responsibility that the person behind the wheel has.”
It is with deep regret that I inform the country that fatalities have increased as a result of the unfortunate traffic accident in Gualaca, Chiriquí. Government teams are working hard at the scene, providing medical assistance to the survivors of this tragedy.
— Nito Cortizo (@NitoCortizo)
February 15, 2023
For his part, the President of Panama, Laurentino Cortizo, published that “it is with great sadness that I receive the news of the traffic accident in Gualaca, Chiriquí, in which migrants lost their lives while being transported from Darién to the shelter located in this place.” .
In turn, the president added that “the Government of Panama provides all medical attention to the wounded,” who were transferred to the Rafael Hernández Hospital in the city of David.
