BRASILIA – At least five people were killed and 50 others were injured Saturday when a bus collided with a truck on a highway in the southeastern Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, officials said.
The accident came a day after an ambulance crash killed six people in the neighboring state of Sao Paulo.
According to firefighters, Saturday’s accident occurred in a mountainous region when the bus apparently lost its brakes due to mechanical failure.
The bus was traveling from Sao Paulo to the northeastern city of Fortaleza with 62 passengers on board, two of whom – including a nine-month-old baby – died in the accident.
The bus driver and his assistant also perished in the crash, as did the truck driver.
The 50 injured bus passengers were treated at a hospital in Montes Claros, near the site of the accident, but medical officials said only two will remain hospitalized, neither of whom is in serious condition.
Separately, at least six people riding in an ambulance were killed early Friday when it veered off a road and overturned in the southeastern state of Sao Paulo, officials said.
The accident occurred when the driver lost control of the vehicle while trying to negotiate a curve, the Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper’s online edition reported.
The driver and five patients who were being taken to a hospital for hemodialysis perished in the crash, which occurred near Pereira Barreto, a town some 600 kilometers (370 miles) from Sao Paulo, Brazil’s largest city.
Three were killed instantly, while the other three were treated by paramedics but later died from their injuries.
