Six dead and more injured in horror Colombia bus crash after driver 'asleep at wheel'

Detailed summary

At least six people have died with another 11 injured after a bus driver is believed to have 'briefly fallen asleep at the wheel'. The bus overturned Saturday on a highway in…

At least six people have died with another 11 injured after a bus driver is believed to have 'briefly fallen asleep at the wheel'. The bus overturned Saturday on a highway in southwestern Colombia, the National Police said, with a police report stating the driver may have nodded off in the driver's seat, causing the incident.

Videos shared on social media showed emergency personnel assisting injured passengers and people crying next to the overturned bus on the Garzon–Neiva highway. The bus, which was headed to the capital, Bogota, was later removed from the road and traffic was restored.

The police report 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.

Col. Edwin Correa, director of the police’s traffic and transportation division, stated in the report that drivers must ensure they have had “adequate rest before beginning a journey.”

No victims of the horror crash have yet been identified. The bus had departed from the community of San Vicente in Colombia’s southern department of Caqueta.

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."

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