At Least 43 Dead as Bus Tumbles 660 Feet in Guatemala

The government has declared three days of national morning

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Saul Martinez / EPA

A firefighter is lifted by a mechanical paw of an excavator after rescuing a dead baby in Chimaltenango, the site of a bus crash in which reportedly at least 43 people were killed and 40 injured, on a road west of Guatemala City, Sep. 9, 2013.

A bus went off a cliff Monday in rural Guatemala and fell 660 feet into a river, killing at least 43 and hospitalizing at least another 40.

Rescue workers said the bus, which swerved off a hairpin bend, was likely over capacity, Reuters reports.

At least six children were killed on the bus, which was mostly carrying vendors bringing farm produce to markets around Guatemala City, 37 miles to the southeast. The government has declared three days of national mourning.

[Reuters]