At least 37 people have died and another 30 were injured when two buses collided on a rural roadway early Saturday in southwest Bolivia, police said.

The accident took place at 7:00 a.m. local time a few kilometers from Uyuni, the gateway to the Salar de Uyuni, a major tourist attraction and the world's largest salt flat at more than 10,000 square kilometers (3,900 square miles).

One of the buses was heading to Oruro, where one of the most important carnival celebrations in Latin America is currently taking place.

Police officers removed survivors from the steel wreckage, according to images shot by Radio Uyuni, which showed several bodies covered in blankets strewn across the high Andean flatlands.

A police spokesperson said one of the two drivers, who both survived the crash, was spotted by passengers consuming alcohol.

Bolivia's mountainous, under maintained and little supervised roadways are some of the deadliest in the world, claiming an average 1,400 fatalities every year.

Source: Japan Today 

BDST: 1140 HRS, MAR 02, 2025
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