16 people die in a collision between two vehicles on a highway in southern Ecuador

At least 16 people died on Friday and eight more were injured after a bus and a car collided on a highway in southern Ecuador, the national emergency response service reported.

The accident occurred at approximately 6:00 p.m. (2300 GMT) when the vehicles collided head-on while traveling on the Catamayo-Loja highway, in a border province in the south of the Andean country, according to a report from the ECU911 Security System sent to the press.

Although the agency did not specify the circumstances in which the events occurred, testimonies collected by local digital media that reported from the scene of the accident indicated an apparent loss of brakes on the bus belonging to the TAC transport cooperative.

The Isidro Ayora hospital in the city of Loja, to which the injured were transferred, stated through its X account that six of the injured are stable, one in critical condition and another under observation.

Images broadcast on digital media showed the light vehicle completely destroyed, while the bus was overturned on the edge of the road. Several bodies could be seen of people who were thrown from the bus by the force of the collision.

Units from the fire brigade, police and the Ministry of Health remained in the area of ​​the accident.

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