Six people killed, 46 injured in Brazil highway bus crash

Bus’s rear tyre bursts, causing it to overturn on the BR-153 highway.

At least six passengers ⁠have been ⁠killed in a bus crash on a ⁠highway in southeastern Brazil and ⁠another 46 people sent to hospitals for treatment.

In a post on X, the Sao Paulo state fire department said the accident took place early on Monday on the BR-153 highway near the city of Marilia. The conditions of the injured passengers ⁠were not immediately known.

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Local ⁠newspapers, quoting statements from Brazil’s Federal Highway Police, said the bus was carrying farm ⁠workers from the northeastern state of Maranhao to Santa ⁠Catarina state in the south to harvest apples.

The vehicle skidded off the roadway and flipped over after ‌its left rear tyre burst, causing the driver to lose control, ‌the Brazilian newspaper ‌Folha de S.Paulo said.

Deadly road accidents are common in Brazil.

In early February, at least 16 people died when a bus veered off the road on a curve and overturned in Alagoas state in the northeast. In October, 17 people died in the northeastern state of Pernambuco when a driver lost control of a bus.

More than 10,000 people died in traffic accidents in Brazil in 2024, according to the Ministry of Transport.

The site of a deadly bus accident earlier this month near the city of Sao Jose da Tapera, Brazil [File: Handout/Alagoas state government via AFP]