At least six people have died and at least 15 have been seriously injured after a bus overturned on a motorway in southwestern Colombia. The incident occurred in the department of Huila, with at least two minors reportedly among those killed.
The Cootranscaquetá bus was carrying 37 passengers and was travelling from San Vicente in Caquetá to Bogotá, the Colombian capital. Preliminary investigations suggest the driver may have briefly fallen asleep behind the wheel, causing the accident.
Crash Details and Victims
The bus departed on Friday evening from the community of San Vicente in Colombia's southern department of Caquetá. The crash took place at around 2am on Saturday. According to Cablenoticias, among the fatalities are five adults and two minors.
According to El Tiempo, the driver is aged 26 and was seriously injured in the crash. A police report seen by the Associated Press states authorities were still trying to determine the exact circumstances under which the bus overturned, but they believe the driver may have experienced an episode of "microsleep" - falling asleep for a few seconds.
Police Statement and Company Response
A statement from the Huila Traffic and Transportation Police said that the driver "lost control" of the bus, seemingly due to a "microsleep, resulting in the bus overturning onto its left side".
Regarding the cause of the crash, Ariel Perdomo, manager of Cootranscaquetá, told El Tiempo: "It's difficult to speculate, so we're limiting ourselves to what the police tell us about this traffic accident."
