As many as 15 passengers were injured Tuesday after their bus overturned on a highway in southern Chile in the same area where nine people were killed in a traffic accident over the weekend amid heavy rains.
The bus carrying 50 passengers overturned at the “Bobadilla” intersection of Route 5 South in the town of San Javier. Carabineros (militarized police) were dispatched to the site, local authorities said.
According to San Javier Mayor Jorge Silva, that stretch of road is often shrouded in fog or pelted by heavy rain.
In recent days, torrential rains and flooding in central and southern Chile have inundated roads, cut off communities and driven thousands from their homes.
But the carabineros also blamed the higher incidence of traffic accidents over the weekend on the increasing number of vehicles on the road.