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Family outing ends with 47 dead in Ecuador accident
Sep 25, 2006, 17:52 GMT
Quito - A double family outing ended in one of the country's worst road tragedies of past years when 47 people died in a bus accident southeast of the capital Quito, media reports said Monday.
Only five passengers survived. Alcohol and the age of the bus were apparently causes, oolice have indicated.
The two families chartered the aging bus, used to transport school children during the week, for a weekend trip to the thermal baths of Papallacta, officials were quoted as saying.
On the way back on Sunday, on a deadly curve, the bus hit a wall at top speed and tumbled down into a gorge. The bus was demolished.
According to indications from police, the bus driver as well as most of the adults on board were drunk. The victims included 14 children.
The driver's vain attempt to regain control showed up in 150- meter-long brake marks on the curve, according to the newspaper La Hora.
A truck driver reported that shortly before the accident, the bus had passed him at dangerously high speed. Police found alcohol containers in the wreck and eyewitnesses reported that the driver had drink with his guests beforehand.
The bus was reportedly untrustworthy even before the trip, with worn down tires and other problems.
© 2006 dpa - Deutsche Presse-AgenturCOMMENT
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