At least six dead and 11 injured after bus overturns on motorway in southwestern Colombia

Resumen detallado

The Cootranscaquetá bus was travelling from San Vicente, Caqueta, to Bogota, Colombia's capital, and had 37 people on board

At least six people have died and at least 15 have been seriously injured after a bus overturned on a motorway in Colombia.

The incident occurred in the southwest of the South American country, with at least two minors reportedly among those killed. The Cootranscaquetá bus was carrying 37 passengers and was travelling to Bogota, the Colombian capital.

Preliminary investigations revealed that the driver of the bus may have briefly fallen asleep behind the wheel, causing the accident. According to El Tiempo, the driver is aged 26 and was seriously injured in the crash.

A police reports seen by the Associated Press states authorities were still trying to determine the exact circumstances under which the bus overturned in the department of Huila, but they believe the driver may have experienced an episode of "microsleep" - falling asleep for a few seconds.

The bus departed on Friday evening from the community of San Vicente in Colombia’s southern department of Caqueta. The crash took place at around 2am on Saturday.

A statement from the Huila Traffic and Transportation Police said that the driver "lost control" of the bus, seemingly due to a "microsleep, resulting in the bus overturning onto its left side". Regarding the cause of the crash, Ariel Perdomo, manager of Cootranscaquetá, told El Tiempo: "It’s difficult to speculate, so we’re limiting ourselves to what the police tell us about this traffic accident."

Cablenoticias reports that among the fatalities are five adults and two minors.

Inicio del artículo, extracto de Daily Mirror. Para leer el resto, abra el artículo en el sitio del medio.