Bus accident in Ecuador kills 23

A bus carrying travelers from Colombia and Venezuela crashed in Ecuador early Tuesday, killing 23 people and injuring 20 others, officials say.

The dead included an unspecified number of Venezuelans and Colombians, whose embassies were notified of the accident, says Christian Rivera, a security official in Quito said.

The bus, which had foreign license plates, was on a downward stretch of highway 30 kilometers (19 miles) east of Quito when it struck an all-terrain vehicle and overturned, slamming into three houses on the side of the road, officials say.

Three Ecuadorians in the all-terrain vehicle were among the dead, Rivera said. Also killed were three children, he says.

“The work is focused on identifying the Colombian and Venezuela citizens, most of whom have died,” he says.

On Sunday, 12 people were killed and 30 injured when a bus carrying fans of Barcelona S.C., Ecuador’s most popular football club, ran off the highway and flipped.

— AFP