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At least 37 people lost their lives, and 39 others were injured in a bus crash in Bolivia's Potosi region, Al Jazeera reported, citing police and local officials' statements.
The accident occurred around 7 AM local time on Saturday on the road between Uyuni and Colchani. Authorities said one of the buses veered into the opposite lane, leading to the collision. Uyuni is the gateway to the Salar de Uyuni, a major tourist attraction and the world's largest salt flat at more than 10,000sq km (3,900sq miles), as per Al Jazeera. Speaking to reporters, a spokesperson for the Departmental Police Command of Potosi stated, "As a result of this fatal accident, we have 39 people injured in four hospitals in the town of Uyuni, and 37 people have lost their lives." Police personnel are working to identify people who were killed and those who were injured and hospitalised, the spokesperson added. One of the buses was travelling to Oruro, where a major carnival celebration was underway. Authorities suspect that one of the drivers, who survived the crash, had been drinking before the accident. Passengers reportedly saw him consuming alcohol. According to Al Jazeera, images captured by Radio Uyuni showed police rescuing survivors from the wreckage, while bodies covered in blankets lay scattered across the Andean highlands. Bolivia's mountainous, under-maintained and little-supervised roadways are some of the deadliest in the world, killing an average of 1,400 people every year. Last month, due to the heavy rains in Bolivia since November last year, the death toll rose to 28, said Juan Carlos Calvimontes, vice civil defence minister. The rains have affected eight of the country's nine Administrative divisions. "We are talking about 83 municipalities affected, and I am sure that within a week, many of them will declare themselves in disaster," the official told a press conference. So far, 27 municipalities have declared themselves in a state of emergency, of which 22 belong to La Paz, the Administrative division hardest hit by the climate. According to the government, the deaths were caused by floods in the departments of Chuquisaca (south), La Paz (west), Tarija (south), Cochabamba (centre), Santa Cruz (east), and Potosi (southwest). (ANI)
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