Firefighters try to put out the burning bus after a collision with a tanker truck.
(dpa)
At least 20 people have died when a tanker truck collided with a coach in Mexico. This was announced by the government of the central Mexican state of Hidalgo, from which the bus was headed towards the city of Monterrey, on Twitter on Sunday. After the collision early Saturday morning (local time) on an expressway in Tamaulipas, the police in the northeastern state initially reported nine deaths.
According to the Tamaulipas Attorney General’s Office, one of the truck’s two fuel tanks was believed to have come loose and crashed into the bus. This one burst into flames. The victims were therefore the passengers of the bus. The majority of them were probably field workers, the newspaper “La Jornada” quoted a government spokesman in Hidalgo.
Tamaulipas police said they were investigating whether the driver of the tanker was responsible for the accident. According to media reports, the driver initially fled, but was arrested by residents and handed over to the police.