More than 30 dead in Brazil road crash

A packed bus collided with a truck and burst into flames early on Saturday in Brazil, killing more than 30 people, the fire department said.
After removing all of the victims from a major highway near the town of Teofilo Otoni in Minas Gerais, the state’s fire department reported that of the 45 people on the bus, 38, including the bus driver, had been confirmed dead.
In a video released on Saturday morning, Lieutenant Alonso Vieira Junior, with the Minas Gerais fire department, said a crane would be needed to clear the wreckage, and that “there are still more victims to be removed”.
However, a spokeswoman for the fire department told AFP by phone that “it was not yet possible to specify the exact number due to the state of the bodies”.
The other passengers remained in critical condition after being transported to a local hospital.
The truck driver fled the scene, and three occupants of a car that collided with the truck and became trapped underneath survived the accident, said the fire department.
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva stated on social media that the government was ready to provide whatever assistance was needed, and that the Federal Highway Policy was at the site.
“I deeply mourn and extend my prayers to the families of the more than 30 victims of the accident in Teofilo Otoni, Minas Gerais. I pray for the recovery of the survivors of this terrible tragedy,” he wrote on X.
A forensic investigation will be required to determine the accident’s cause, as differing accounts were gathered from witness testimonies, said the local fire department.
Initially, firefighters reported that the bus experienced a tyre blowout, causing the driver to lose control before colliding around 4am local time, with an oncoming truck on the BR-116 federal highway, a major route that connects Brazil’s densely populated southeast to the poorer northeast.
However, witnesses also reported that a granite block the truck was transporting came loose, fell on the road and caused the collision with the bus, said the fire department.
“Only the forensic investigation will confirm the true version,” said the fire department in a statement.
The bus departed from Sao Paulo and was headed to the state of Bahia.