At least 32 dead after bus and truck collide in Brazil Transport News

A passenger bus collided with a truck near the city of Lajinha in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais, fire officials said.

At least 32 people died as a result of a collision between a passenger bus and a truck on the highway in southeastern Brazil.

The Minas Gerais state fire department said “32 to 35 people” had died after responding to an accident near the town of Lajinha early Saturday morning.

Earlier, it was reported that 13 people were taken to hospitals near the city of Teofilo Otoni.

It is reported that the bus left from Sao Paulo and had 45 passengers.

Officials said that the driver lost control of the bus and collided with the truck as a result of a tire burst. A bus and a car also collided, but all three occupants survived, fire officials said.

Officials said that all the victims were removed from the scene, and an investigation is underway to determine the causes of the accident.

Governor Romeu Zema wrote that he had ordered the Minas Gerais government to “fully mobilize” to help the survivors and families of the victims.

“We are working to ensure that the families of the victims are supported to face this tragedy in the most humane way, especially as it happened just before Christmas,” Zema said.

According to Globo, a Brazilian media outlet, the truck driver fled the scene and is being sought by the police.

According to the Federal Highway Police, the highway where the accident occurred was the deadliest in the country in 2023, with 559 deaths, Globo reported.

According to the Ministry of Transport, in 2024, more than 10 thousand people died in road accidents in Brazil.

In September, a bus carrying the Coritiba Crocodiles soccer team veered off the road and overturned, killing three people.

The team from the southern city of Curitiba traveled to Rio de Janeiro, which was canceled after the accident.