Three lives are lost in a collision between a bus and a dump truck in Boyacá
Among them, two minor taekwondo athletes and an instructor who were traveling on the inter-municipal bus
The quiet municipality of Villa de Leyva, in Boyacá, Colombia, was overshadowed by a tragic road accident that left a devastating toll. Two children aged 16 and 3, along with a woman (mother of the deceased child under 3) who was being treated at a local hospital, lost their lives in an accident that has shocked the community.
The fateful incident occurred on the highway that connects the municipality of Santa Sofía with Villa de Leyva. The authorities have detailed that a bus and a dump truck collided in the Pozos Azules sector. The bus, which transported parents and minors, had left Moniquirá in the morning and was taking young taekwondo players to a festival in Villa de Leyva.
The crash, which took place around 8:40 a.m. m. on Saturday, August 19, left the bus overturned on the road due to the impact with the dump truck, which was left on the side of the road. To rescue the injured, the intervention of a backhoe that was working nearby was necessary.
The Villa de Leyva Hospital was the first center to treat the wounded, but due to the seriousness of the injuries and the number of people affected, the Tunja medical centers, such as the San Rafael Hospital, the Medilaser Clinic and the Los Andes, activated an emergency protocol and deployed a specialized team to provide care to the victims of the accident.
In the midst of this heartbreaking episode, two minors and a woman lost their lives. The identified victims are 24-year-old Paola Otero, Maria José Basto Otero, her 3-year-old daughter; and 16-year-old Emmanuel Correa Rodríguez, was a great promise of martial arts.
In addition, 16 people, mostly minors, were transferred to Tunja, the capital of Boyacá, to receive medical treatment. Among them, a girl is in critical condition and will require surgery.
Reports suggest that an intermunicipal bus carrying a group of young athletes crashed into a dump truck on the road that leads to Villa de Leyva.
Although authorities initially attributed the accident to speeding, unofficial versions suggest that brake problems in one of the vehicles could have contributed to the tragic outcome.
However, a recently released video on social networks sheds light on what happened, showing how the dump truck lost control and collided head-on with the inter-municipal bus in a matter of seconds.