public safety

2 killed, 27 injured in bus accident

Virgilio De León/LA PRENSA

deadly crash: A bus driver lost control of his vehicle on the Arraiján-La Chorrera Highway. Two people were killed in the wreck.1100715

Two people were killed and 27 others were injured, three seriously, in a bus accident Wednesday on the Arraiján-La Chorrera Highway, about 200 meters from the Nicholás A. Solano bridge.

Those killed in the accident were Eneida Villarreal, 49, and Romeo Trevia Barahona, 39.

One of the injured passengers, Felipe de Jesús Sánchez, said that the bus, which was on the Chame-Panama City route, was traveling at excessive rate of speed since entering the highway. He said that the accident took place when a passenger asked to be dropped off. The driver apparently lost control while pulling over on to the side of the road. The bus overturned and went down an embankment.

“When the bus overturned, passengers were on top of each other,” he said. “We couldn't get out.”

Ambulances rushed to the scene and transported those with injuries to the Hospital Nicolás A. Solano. Both Barahona and Villarreal died at that facility. Two people were treated and released while 25 others are still being treated. Three of those injured, Elvis Campos, Fulgencio Camaño and Yessica Obregón, were transported to hospitals in Panama City because of the seriousness of their injuries.

The regional director of the Autoridad del Tránsito y Transporte Terrestre (ATTT) in Panamá Oeste, Herminio Pérez, said that the practice of stopping on the highway to drop off passengers is not allowed, and is dangerous.

He said, despite numerous efforts by the ATTT to crack down on this practice, it is still common.

The driver of the bus suffered minor injuries and is now in police custody pending the outcome of the investigation.

Authorities are also trying to determine the identity of the person who asked the bus driver to stop.