Brake failure on bus may have lead to 60 deaths

A bus carrying Mexican tourists plunged off a 650ft cliff today, killing at least 60 people in a crash police said could have been caused by brake failure on the steep mountainous roads.

Three people were injured in the crash that came as the bus travelled from the western city of Guadalajara to the Gulf coast state of Tabasco following Easter week. The number of dead could rise.

Police did not immediately know what caused the crash, but were investigating whether the driver was speeding or if the brakes failed on the bus as it descended one of the area’s many winding roads, said Ranulfo Marquez Hernandez, deputy secretary of civil protection for Veracruz state, where the crash occurred.

Federal Preventive Police official Arturo Corona told W Radio the bus was travelling at about 68-70 mph.

Buses often are required to not to exceed 60 mph.

He said a preliminary investigation indicated the higher-than-normal speed may have been caused by brake failure.

Two of the injured passengers were taken unconscious to area hospitals.

The condition of the third, an eight-year-old girl, was not immediately known.

Hundreds of thousands of Mexicans filled the roads on Sunday and today as they returned from Easter week holidays.

The holiday typically sees a large number of highway deaths.

The highway where the bus was travelling is considered to be one of the 15 most dangerous in the country, Corona said.