7 Killed, Dozens Injured In Brazil Tour Bus Accident

At least 7 passengers were killed and 22 others injured in a tour bus accident in the Southern Brazilian state of Parana on Tuesday.

The bus was headed for Iguazu Falls and had a total of 54 persons on board, Parana's Federal Highway Police said, according to China.org. The bus had departed from Florianopolis, the capital of Santa Catarina state, and was on its way further south to Foz do Iguacu, one of the starting points for visiting the great Iguaçu Falls, a Brazilian town bordering Argentina and Paraguay.

The accident took place in the central Parana town of Fernandes Pinheiro when the bus, operated by Viacao Catarinense company, veered off the BR-277 highway and plunged into a ditch, according to Daily World.

Among the deceased were an Argentine mother and her 3-year-old daughter, BSS News reported. All the injured persons were taken to a nearby hospital.

Local authorities are currently investigating to determine the cause of the crash, which involved another vehicle.

A surviving passenger, Alexandro de Oliveira Gamaro, said he spoke to the bus driver who admitted that he had fallen asleep at the wheel, which caused him to lose control.

The South American country ranks 24 on the list of countries with the highest traffic-related accidents across the world, with 23.4% out of every 10,000 persons dying annually. The Brazilian government last year had rolled out a landmark five-year plan for reducing the country's traffic-related death statistics by 50% by 2028.

Earlier this month, at least 40 were killed and 85 were injured in a bus accident in the Republic of Senegal. The bus was traveling down the arterial road in Senegal's central Kaffrine region overnight when it went into a head-on collision with another bus resulting in a fatal crash.

Visuals from the tree-lined crash site showed the completely mangled front end of a white bus, with blood-flecked seats, personal items, and a shoe strewn around the place.