At least 27 people have been confirmed dead after a tragic bus accident in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca. According to the state’s Interior Minister Jesus Romero, the bus had been travelling from Mexico City to Yosondua when it veered off a highway near the city of Magdalena Penasco and plunged into a 25-metre ravine. While the official death toll is 27, reports of the numbers injured varied with 21 and 17 being mentioned. Photos shared on social media by law enforcement show the contorted wreckage of the bus surrounded by emergency workers and what appear to be bodies covered in sheets at the bottom of the ravine.

This incident is one of the latest cases of deadly crashes that have killed dozens of people in regions of southern Mexico, highlighting the hazardous conditions of steep and windy roads in the area. In April, 18 people were killed when a bus drove off a cliff in western Mexico. In December 2021, a truck carrying about 166 people crashed in the state of Chiapas, killing 54 people and injuring dozens of others. These fatalities are a testament to the perilous conditions that migrants often face when trying to clandestinely travel through Latin American countries such as Mexico. State personnel have already begun the rescue operation and are providing support to the injured people.

Oaxaca State Highway Police director Toribio Lopez Sanchez has also asked motorists who circulate in the area to exercise extreme caution and give way to traffic. The tragedy of the Magdalena Penasco bus crash has left a heavy toll in its wake. But it serves as a reminder that the roads in southern Mexico are fraught with danger, and that more needs to be done to ensure the safety of those travelling through the region.