Panama bus accident kills at least 39 migrants

A bus carrying 66 folks plunged off of a cliff within the worst accident involving migrants in Panama in a decade.

Panama Civil Safety staff assist folks injured in an accident involving a bus that was carrying migrants who had travelled by the Darien Hole, in Los Planes de Gualaca, Panama on February 15 [Handout via Reuters]

Dozens of migrants have been killed in a bus accident within the Central American nation of Panama, the place a bus carrying greater than 60 migrants plunged off a cliff.

At the least 39 migrants had been killed and about 20 injured within the accident on Wednesday.  Officers haven't shared info on the nationalities of these within the group, which had reportedly crossed the harmful Darien Hole between Colombia and Panama.

“The Authorities extends its condolences to the households of these killed on this accident, and reiterates its dedication to proceed offering humanitarian support and respectable circumstances to cope with irregular migration,” Panama’s President Laurentino Cortizo mentioned on Twitter.

Stretched skinny by poor financial alternatives, pure disasters, and harmful circumstances of their dwelling international locations, migrants have launched into perilous treks to succeed in international locations the place they consider they could discover security or a greater life.

The Panamanian authorities sometimes strikes migrants who've crossed the Darien Hole to a camp close to the Costa Rica border on the opposite facet of Panama. The migrants pay for the bus tickets, and there are normally two drivers in addition to personnel from the Nationwide Immigration Service. The buses typically journey in convoys to make assist maintain folks smugglers at bay, an immigration official on the scene mentioned.

Samira Gozaine, director of Panama’s Nationwide Immigration Service, mentioned that the bus had apparently missed the doorway to a migrant shelter, and was attempting to show round when it collided with one other bus and went off a cliff.

The bus was transporting 66 folks, and Panama’s well being ministry mentioned “greater than 5 youngsters” had been among the many injured, the AFP reported.

A number of folks had been taken by ambulance to a hospital within the Chiriqui provincial capital metropolis David, in line with authorities, the AFP mentioned.

It's the worst accident involving migrants in Panama in no less than 10 years.

The Darien Hole is a notoriously perilous 96km (60-mile) stretch of jungle replete with wild animals, harmful rivers and prison gangs. Separating Colombia and Panama, it has seen an uptick in migrant exercise, with almost 250,000 making the trek final 12 months. That represents a major improve from 2021, when the whole was almost 134,000.

Jose Vicente Pachar, director common of the Institute of Authorized Drugs and Forensic Sciences of Panama, advised the AFP that no less than 60 migrants died crossing the Darien Hole in 2022, up from 50 in 2021.

A lot of those that cross are from Venezuela, the place almost seven million folks have left since 2014 amid tough financial and safety circumstances.

Whereas Venezuelan refugees and migrants had beforehand flown to Mexico earlier than attempting to succeed in the United States border, new visa necessities in Mexico and different Central American international locations have compelled many to journey by the Darien Hole.

Some who make the crossing have taken to social media to doc their experiences, contributing to an increasing and casual repository of data shared by these hoping to make the journey north.