MEXICO: Relatives mourn the victims of a mudslide in Mexico which buried 60 bus passengers alive on a remote mountain road

Record ID: 304092

  • Title: MEXICO: Relatives mourn the victims of a mudslide in Mexico which buried 60 bus passengers alive on a remote mountain road
  • Date: 6th July 2007
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) UNKNOWN RELATIVE OF BUS VICTIM, SAYING: "It is my understanding that the authorities have had this information, that the road was very bad for about a month, when it broke open. And, finally, it collapsed. Now that this has happened, we've lost our families because of the road, not for any other reason but because of the authorities' neglect. As you can see here, the authorities-- you tell them things and they ignore it."
  • Embargoed: 21st July 2007 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Mexico
  • Country: Mexico
  • Topics: Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes,Weather
  • Reuters ID: LVA7KGTRG5V75JDED57ZBLAOF7U
  • Story Text: Relatives mourn the victims of a mudslide in Mexico which buried 60 bus passengers alive on a remote mountain road. Relatives are gathering in southern Mexico to mourn up to 60 victims of a bus tragedy.
    The vehicle was buried under a mountain of mud after a landslide in the southern state of Puebla on Wednesday (July 4).
    The bodies of the first victims to be recovered are being taken to makeshift funeral parlours.
    Grieving relatives are holding wakes.
    There is anger too. Some say the authorities were warned about the dangers on the road and the potential for disaster in the rainy season.
    One man says the authorities had the information for a month.
    "Now this has happened. We've lost our families because of the road, not for any other reason but because of the authorities' neglect" he said.
    Heavy machinery is being used to drag pieces of the broken bus out from under the piles of mud, fallen trees and large boulders.
    Rescuers may then be able to retrieve more bodies from the disaster site in the municipality of Eloxochitlan.
    Some victims, whose bodies have already been recovered, remain unidentified, their coffins bearing a number only.
    Benedictina Moreno Contreras lost her husband on the bus. As she held his wake in her home, she worried about how she would now support her young children.
    "I'm now asking for the authorities to help me so I can keep going with my children, because I'm left alone now. Who will help me?" she cried.
    She has two sons, aged ten and eleven, and a six year old daughter.
    After days of heavy rain, part of an almost vertical hill crashed down on the bus as it wound through a remote mountain region.
    The number of passengers on the bus is estimated at between 45 and
    The start of the annual rainy season has caused flooding in many parts of Mexico.
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