Three buses crashed into each other in a fiery collision in northern Argentina, killing at least 55 people and leaving 70 hurt, authorities said.
The accident happened when one bus tried to overtake another, hit an oncoming bus and burst into flames. Most of the victims died trapped in the burning vehicle, Argentine police said Sunday.The crash Saturday night in the province of Corrientes, 875 miles northeast of the Argentine capital Buenos Aires, was the worst road accident in the country's history.
Manuel Rojas, chief of police from the nearby town of Santo Tome, told the Argentine News agency that a bus from the Morescar company was traveling from Posadas to Buenos Aires when it hit a Paraguayan bus going in the opposite direction toward that country's capital, Asuncion.
The Morescar bus was overtaking a bus from the Holistur company at the time.
"According to what could be reconstructed, when the driver of the Morescar bus saw that the other (Paraguayan) bus was coming down on him, he tried to return to his side of the road, but there was not time," said Rojas. "It didn't crash head-on, but the impact was very strong.
Rojas said there were also "many deaths" among the passengers of the Paraguayan bus. The Holistur bus, also traveling from Posadas to Buenos Aires, was caught up in the collision, leaving the driver injured.