Three dead and 31 wounded in collision in Antofagasta

SANTIAGO.– Three people were killed and 31 injured this morning in a head-on collision between an inter-provincial bus and a private vehicle at kilometer 1,400 of Route 5 north, about 30 kilometers from Antofagasta.

According to Captain Jorge Araya Parodi of the Second Commissary of Antofagasta, the accident happened when a Honda Accord driven by Arnoldo Fidel Cruz Moro, who was driving from Calama to Antofogasta with four passengers (two minors and two adults), crossed the median of the highway and had a frontal collision with a Turbus company bus traveling from Santiago to San Pedro de Atacama.

Three of the four occupants of the smaller vehicle died on impact, while the fourth passenger, an eight year-old girl, was taken to the Regional Hospital of Antofogasta where she is currently in critical condition.

31 people ended up with minor injuries, all passengers of the bus, two of whom are unidentified police officers.