QUITO — A passenger bus collided with a smaller vehicle in southern Ecuador on Friday, killing at least 16 people and injuring eight others, rescue officials said. 

“So far the toll is 16 dead and eight injured” from the crash, which involved another vehicle and took place in Ecuador’s Loja province bordering Peru, the ECU911 agency said on WhatsApp. 

“Firefighters, the National Police and the Ministry of Public Health units are working on the incident, which involved an interprovincial transport bus and a light car-type vehicle,” the agency said. 

The bus had collided with a car traveling in the opposite direction and overturned, according to local media. 

The governor of Loja, Alexandra Jara, expressed her “deep solidarity with the families affected by this unfortunate event”. 

She added that Isidro Ayora hospital, Loja’s main hospital, was activated in response to the emergency, as well as a health center near the site of the accident. 

Police also closed the road to guarantee security and facilitate rescue efforts. 

“All state institutions remain on alert to provide the necessary support,” the governor said on social media platform X. 

The Isidro Ayora hospital announced on X that it initially received nine patients, one of whom had died and one of whom was in critical condition.

“Patients requiring surgery are transferred to the operating room,” the hospital said.

Traffic accidents are among the main causes of death in Ecuador. 

The country saw almost 21,000 accidents in 2023, with nearly 2,400 people killed, according to official figures. 

In the first five months of 2024, there were 848 deaths from the more than 8,400 accidents recorded during the period. 

In September, the overturning of a bus carrying 35 Indigenous people of Waorani ethnic group on the outskirts of Quito left nine dead. — AFP