Lima.-An accident that occurred in the early hours of July 16 on the Libertadores highway in the Ayacucho region left more than 20 people dead. So far, neither the firefighters nor the medical and police personnel have arrived at the scene of the incident.
According to information from several local media such as Global Ayacucho, the bus belongs to the Molina Unión company that left Lima a few hours ago heading to Ayacucho.
It was at kilometer 205, near the Ccarhuapampa sector, when for reasons still unknown, the vehicle went off track and rolled down a slope of approximately 200 meters.
Several videos shared on social media such as Facebook show the vehicle completely destroyed on the road. The lifeless bodies of several passengers, as well as luggage, remain around it.
At the time of writing, residents of the area were trying to help the injured and were awaiting the arrival of medical personnel, as well as the Peruvian Police and Fire Department, to deal with the emergency and transfer the survivors to a nearby health facility.
Two hours following the Molina Unión bus accident, a group of nurses and doctors arrived at the scene in two ambulances. According to information provided by Pepa Noticia Ayacucho, the injured are being rescued to be transferred to the nearest hospitals.
However, medical units do not seem to be sufficient to deal with the number of injured, which is still unknown. In addition, relatives of some of the victims have also arrived at the area where they are witnessing scenes of grief.
The Regional Health Directorate (Diresa) of Ayacucho informed the public that it has mobilized ambulances from Vinchos, Pillpichaca, SAMU, Licenciados, Ccarhuaccpampa, and Santa Elena for first aid and immediate transfer of the injured.
“Likewise, the team from the Emergency and Disaster Center and health personnel from Belén, Jesús Nazareno, San Juan Bautista and the Regional Hospital of Ayacucho are on alert for the arrival of the injured,” they indicated.
Rolando Valderrama, head of the PNP’s Highway Protection Division, confirmed on Canal N that approximately 60 people were traveling on the crashed bus, of which 21 died this morning.
Infobae Peru has access to the list of passengers on the bus with license plate A7E-957 from the Molina Unión company, which left on Tuesday morning bound for Ayacucho. The document details that 39 people left from the agency in Lima. However, the information provided by the police indicates that the bus was carrying approximately 60 people, which suggests that it might have picked up more passengers during the trip.
In addition, a relative of one of the bus passengers reported on TV Perú that the land transport company has not provided information despite insistence.
In February of this year, another bus from the Molina Unión company, which left Ayacucho heading to the city of Lima, suffered another spectacular traffic accident near the district of Huaytará, Huancavelica region, on the Libertadores highway.
The incident occurred in the early hours of the morning, on one of the curves of the road that is in a terrible state, where the driver lost control of the vehicle. Fortunately, the accident did not go any further as the vehicle was left lying next to a ditch that prevented it from rolling down a precipice more than 70 meters deep.
In September 2023, another unit of the Molina Unión company caused the death of at least 26 people and approximately 30 injured following an accident that occurred at kilometer 165 of the highway that connects Ayacucho with Huancavelica, plunging the vehicle into a 200-meter deep abyss. Among the deceased were people of Venezuelan nationality.
As a result of these and several other accidents, Indecopi fined the company Molina Unión with 450 Tax Units (UIT) for “generating an unjustified risk to the health and safety of its passengers, following causing a traffic accident involving one of its vehicles.”
In May, a Civa bus suffered an accident on the Libertadores highway that claimed the lives of 17 people, including Congressman Edgar Alarcón. The accident put the aforementioned highway in the public eye due to its poor condition.
According to a query made by Infobae Peru on the web platform of the State Contracting Supervisory Body (OSCE), Provias Nacional organized a contest in 2020 for the service of “Recycling and resurfacing of the road corridor: San Clemente – Huaytará – Ayacucho; section: Los Libertadores Km 143+000 – Occollo Km 264+000″. More than a year later, the governor of Ayacucho, Carlos Rua Carbajal, presented the work with the same name.
The original tender qualified ‘Consorcio Los Libertadores’ and ‘Consorcio Huaytara’ as the most suitable, but both lost the award due to violations in the contract formalization procedure, according to the contracting regulations. As a result, the tender was declared void in April 2021. In June, Provias Nacional launched a new call for tenders, won by ‘Consorcio Santa Gabriela’. The contract was signed in August 2021, with a cost of S/ 93.6 million, lower than the estimated budget of S/ 117 million.
In April 2022, the Regional Government of Ayacucho announced the start of works on the Vía Los Libertadores. According to Governor Carlos Rua Carbajal, the works would begin at the end of April. On May 27, 2022, the start of the works was officially announced with an investment of S/ 93.6 million, benefiting more than 24 thousand inhabitants.
In March 2023, rehabilitation works were carried out on Vía Los Libertadores following a landslide. In December 2023, the new governor Wilfredo Oscorima announced maintenance interventions prior to Easter 2024, with a budget of around S/ 4,000 million.
In March 2024, Oscorima announced that maintenance work would begin on Vía Los Libertadores. However, the Regional Prefect, Yuri Abad Quispe, stated that Provias Nacional would be in charge of maintenance, which was confirmed by statements from the MTC and Provias Nacional.
In August 2024, a road accident at kilometer 243 of the road affected 17 people. Despite the reported investments and works, the road conditions continued to be poor, affecting the arrival of tourists during Holy Week. Infobae Peru tried to contact the companies of the Santa Gabriela Consortium for comments, without obtaining a response.Infobae.
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2024-07-19 20:17:51
