At least 33 dead in Panama after a bus with migrants fell off a cliff

Remains of the bus that fell off a cliff, in Panama, this Wednesday. Firefighters of Panama (RR.SS.)

At least 33 people have died and 23 have been injured this Wednesday in Panama after a bus full of migrants fell off a cliff.

The chief firefighter in the western province of Chiriquí, Edilberto Armuelles, has specified that the accident occurred at 4:30 a.m. local time, in the Gualaca area, in the west of the country.

According to the first information, 66 people were traveling in the transport -including the driver and the assistant- in transit, who were being transferred from various shelters in the province of Darién, on the border with Colombia, to another in Chiriquí, on the border with Costa Rica, heading to the United States.

Among the injured there are at least five minors, two of them with serious injuries, according to local media.

The identity of the deceased is still unknown.

"It is with great sadness that I receive the news of the traffic accident in Gualaca, Chiriquí [some 400 km west of the capital], in which 15 migrants lost their lives while being transported from Darién to the shelter located in this place," he said. Panamanian President Laurentino Cortizo, from his official Twitter account.

The number of deceased has since doubled.

It is with great sadness that I receive the news of the traffic accident in Gualaca, Chiriquí, in which 15 migrants lost their lives while being transported from Darién to the shelter located in this place.

The Government of Panama provides all medical attention to the wounded.

— Nito Cortizo (@NitoCortizo) February 15, 2023

The bus transported the migrants from Darién, the jungle area bordering Colombia, to the border with Costa Rica so that they could continue their journey to the United States.

The authorities have not yet detailed the nationalities of the occupants of the bus.

Several injured were taken by ambulance to the hospital in the city of David, head of the province of Chiriquí, according to local media.

The Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences has reported that a team of experts has already traveled to the place, "waiting to start the removal of the bodies" after completing the "intervention of the rescue groups."

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