Deadly bus crash in Peru

At least 20 people were killed and more than 50 were injured when a truck collided with two buses in Peru.

Rescue workers pull bodies from the wreckage of two buses after they collided with a truck in Peru.

The accident happened on Tuesday morning in the Arequipa region near the Bolivian border.

At least twenty people died and more than 50 were injured when the three vehicles became mangled together.

Media reports say some children and tourists were among the dead.

Medical staff arrived at the scene to attend survivors.

Those badly injured were ferried in buses to the nearest hospital.

(SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) UNIDENTIFIED PASSENGER SAYING:

"One (bus) came out this way, then the other came from the other side. They became mangled together, and there are a lot of dead there."

(SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) UNIDENTIFIED PASSENGER SAYING:

"One truck had stopped in front and the other (bus), in order to avoid it, the other swung out and that's when the crash happened."

Collisions in this part of Peru are not uncommon.

Just a day earlier, another bus ran off the road and plunged into a gorge.

At least 10 people died and 30 were injured.

The government say accidents have shot up in the last year despite efforts to crack down on dilapidated buses and underqualified drivers.

Hayley Platt Reuters.

Twenty people were killed and more than 50 injured in Peru on Tuesday (February 10) after two buses and a truck collided in the province of Arequipa, the Peruvian news agency reported.

At the scene, rescue workers pulled bodies out of the wreckage of the two buses which had become entangled. The injured were taken to nearby hospitals.

Media reports said that among the dead were children and European tourists.

Twenty dead and almost sixty injured after two buses and a truck collide in the Arequipa region of Peru near the Bolivian border.

SHOWS: AREQUIPA, PERU (FEBRUARY 10, 2009) (CANAL N - NO ACCESS PERU)

1. WRECKAGE OF TWO BUSES ON HIGHWAY

2. AMBULANCE DRIVING ALONG HIGHWAY

3. RESCUE WORKERS AT SCENE

4. RESCUE WORKERS TAKING APART WRECKAGE OF BUSES

5. WOMAN CRYING

6. VARIOUS OF WRECKAGE

7. VARIOUS OF BODIES BEING REMOVED FROM WRECKAGE

8. MEDICS ARRIVING AT THE SCENE

9. MEDIC EXAMINING INJURED MAN

10. MORE OF SCENE

11. BUS ARRIVING AT HOSPITAL

12. INJURED WOMAN ON STRETCHER BEING TAKEN INTO HOSPITAL BY RED CROSS WORKERS

13. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) UNIDENTIFIED PASSENGER SAYING:

"One (bus) came out this way, then the other came from the other side. They were twisted together, and there are a lot of dead there." / BODIES ON BUS

14. INJURED GIRL ON STRETCHER

15. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) UNIDENTIFIED PASSENGER SAYING:

"One truck had stopped in front and the other (bus), in order to avoid it, the other swung out and that's when the crash happened."

16. INJURED MAN BEING CARRIED INTO HOSPITAL

STORY: Twenty people were killed and more than 50 injured in Peru on Tuesday (February 10) after two buses and a truck collided in the province of Arequipa, the Peruvian news agency reported.

At the scene, rescue workers pulled bodies out of the wreckage of the two buses which had become entangled. The injured were taken to nearby hospitals.

Media reports said that among the dead were children and European tourists.

"One (bus) came out this way, then the other came from the other side. They were twisted together, and there are a lot of dead there," said one unidentified woman, who managed to escape without injury.

"One truck had stopped in front and the other (bus), in order to avoid it, the other swung out and that's when the crash happened," added another witness.

The collision happened early on Tuesday morning and just one day after another bus ran off the road and plunged into a gorge in Peru's southern Ayacucho area, leaving at least 10 people dead and 30 injured.