The Church in Guatemala is demanding answers from the government on regulating the country’s treacherous bus travel industry following a fatal bus crash in Guatemala City that killed at least 54 people. Source: Catholic Review.
Catholics have been providing spiritual support to the families of the victims on several levels, with Guatemalan bishops participating in memorial Masses of those lost in the bus accident.
The bus picked up at least 70 passengers in Santo Domingo Los Ocotes, a town in El Progreso department, and was taking them to the capital, a route that shouldn’t take much more than one hour.
The vehicle carried men, women and children. Some passengers worked in Guatemala City; others would frequently visit it to buy products to sell in their village.
“Those intercity buses are very common. They have spaces where people can put the merchandise they buy in the capital,” Fr Rigoberto Pérez, a vicar in Guatemala City and a longtime communications officer in the Guatemalan church, told OSV News.
As the bus was arriving in the northern part of the capital, it crashed into cars, broke through a guardrail and fell from a 35-metre-high bridge into a polluted stream.
“Most of them died instantly. Others were taken to the hospital, but died before getting there,” Fr Pérez, communications head of the bishops’ conference of Latin America, said.
The tragedy revealed the risks and disorganisation that many Guatemalan workers face every day, Fr Pérez said. Ongoing investigations have already shown that the bus driver didn’t have a professional licence and the vehicle was operating out of its authorised route.
“In many cases, bus owners fail to apply the necessary security measures. At the same time, there’s a lack of supervision on the authorities’ side,” Fr Pérez said.
Bishop Rodolfo Valenzuela Núñez of Verapaz, president of the Guatemalan bishops’ conference, said the Church has been demanding from the authorities that the public transportation system take adequate safety measures.
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Church expresses solidarity with victims’ families, demands answers after Guatemala bus crash (By Eduardo Campos LIma, OSV News via Catholic Review)
