The head of state also reported that he had mobilized army personnel to "provide assistance on site and activate special criteria for providing medical care to the injured."
Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo has declared three days of national mourning in the country following a bus crash that killed at least 55 people on Monday, Reuters reported.
“The tragedy at the Belize Bridge is a national pain that I deeply regret. I sympathize with the families of the victims who woke up today to devastating news. Your pain is my pain,” wrote the leader on the social network X (Twitter).
The head of state also reported that he had mobilized army personnel to “provide assistance on site and activate special criteria for providing medical care to the injured.”
The death toll has risen to 55, local emergency services announced, quoted by the Lusa news agency.
Public prosecutors said 53 bodies were recovered at the scene and the San Juan de Dios Hospital in the capital confirmed that two passengers transported there also died, according to the same outlet.
The accident involved a bus carrying 75 passengers that fell off the Belize Bridge, the main access bridge to the capital of Guatemala from the north and northeast areas.
Fire department spokesman Edwin Villagran said a multi-vehicle accident caused the bus to leave the road and plunge 110 feet into the steep gorge below the bridge before dawn.
The bus had left from San Agustin Acasaguastlan, in the department of El Progreso, about 100 kilometers northeast of the capital.
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