Transantiago bus accident leaves 16 injured in Pudahuel

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SANTIAGO.- An accident involving a Transantiago bus kilometer 15.7 of the Américo Vespucio Norte highway near the Eneas sector of Pudahuel has left sixteen people injured, two of whom are in critical condition.

According to preliminary reports, the bus was being driven by 59 year-old Ricardo Lobos Espinoza along the aforementioned highway when it made a surprise turn off onto exit number 15 – crashing the left side of the vehicle into some barriers located on the shoulder of the highway service road.

After the first crash, the vehicle collided into an electricity post and then slammed into another road barrier on the left side of the highway service road.

As a result of the three impacts, 16 of the passengers –many of whom were children— received varying degrees of injuries. One of the passengers, identified as 19 year-old Bastián Coloma Guerrero, was ejected from the bus and seriously injured.

According to police, the driver of the route 304 bus was arrested following the accident for not possessing his driver's license.