Dozens Die In Bolivian Bus Accident

An overcrowded bus crossing the Andean foothills of Bolivia plunged off a cliff in heavy rain and fog Tuesday, killing 32 people, including four children.

Nineteen passengers were injured - some of them seriously - in the 500-foot fall, police Officer Walter Osinaga said.

“It looked like an airplane accident, with bodies and wreckage all over the place,” Osinaga said.

The accident happened at dawn just outside the tourist and farming center of Sorata, about 95 miles north of the capital, La Paz. Nearly all the passengers were returning to La Paz from a long weekend and Day of the Dead celebrations, rites held in parts of Latin American to commemorate the dead.

Officials said the bus, which was built to carry only 30 of the 51 people on board, veered off the cliff after the driver missed a curve.