Andean Highway Tragedy: Passenger Bus Plunges Off Cliff, Killing 15, Stranding Mountain Route

Lima, Peru— A passenger bus carrying more than 30 people went off a narrow mountain road and dropped into a ravine on Saturday morning, killing at least 15 and trapping others in the wreckage. The crash happened on a high-altitude stretch in the northern Andes, where fog and loose gravel make driving lethal.

Police said the bus left Cajamarca around 4 a.m. bound for the coast. It never arrived. At kilometer 112, on a tight curve with no guardrail, the driver lost control. Witnesses from a following truck told officers the rear wheels slid on wet rock, then the whole vehicle tipped.

The fall was estimated at more than 200 meters. The bus hit the cliff face twice before landing upside down on a riverbed. Local farmers heard the impact and ran to the edge. They saw smoke, scattered luggage, and bodies pinned under twisted metal. They called the emergency line. No signal for 20 minutes.

Rescue took hours. The terrain blocked heavy equipment. Firefighters, police, and army crews rappelled down with ropes. They cut through the roof to reach survivors. One officer said they worked by hand because the slope was too unstable for a crane.

"We pulled seven people alive," said a regional police commander at the scene. "Several were critical. The bus broke apart. Some passengers were thrown clear before it hit bottom." He said the driver was among the dead.

Hospitals in Cajamarca and Bambamarca declared a mass-casualty alert. Doctors reported head trauma, broken legs, and internal bleeding. At least eight injured were in intensive care by late afternoon. Blood donations were requested. Families gathered outside the emergency entrance.

The company that operated the bus, a regional carrier, said the vehicle passed inspection last month. The Ministry of Transport said it will review the black box and maintenance logs. Investigators are looking at brake failure and driver fatigue as possible factors. The road had been flagged before for lack of barriers.

Road crashes kill thousands in Peru each year. The Andean routes are especially bad. Overloaded buses, night driving, and poor oversight collide on roads carved into cliffs. Authorities promise new guardrails every year. Locals say nothing changes.

By Saturday night, crews had lifted 15 bodies from the ravine. The search continued for one person listed as missing. The road remains closed while prosecutors document the site.