30 die in Ecuador bus accident

Quito, Dec 25 (IANS/EFE) At least 30 people were killed and 25 others were injured when the bus in which they were travelling veered off the road and plunged into a ravine in Ecuador’s Manabi province, police said Friday.

The accident occurred between the cities of Flavio Alfaro and El Carmen. Local media reports put the toll at 32, including eight children and the bus driver.

The driver lost control of the vehicle after the brakes stopped working, a survivor told El Telegrafo newspaper. The bus plunged some 650 feet into a ravine after hitting a tree and a boulder on the way down. The injured were taken to a nearby hospital.

–IANS/EFE