Eighteen holiday makers on their way from Guadalajara to a short break in the Pacific coastal town of Rincon de Guayabitos died when their bus careened into a ravine on one of the most dangerous sections of highway in Western Mexico.
The deadly accident occurred on the evening of Saturday, April 29 on Highway 200, midway between Compostela and Las Varas, on the winding, mountainous 30-kilometer stretch commonly referred to as “Las Curvas” (The Curves).
The Nayarit Prosecutor’s Office issued a statement saying that their initial observations indicate that the bus experienced brake failure on its descent, a not uncommon cause of accidents reported on this dangerous two-lane section of road.
The deceased included eleven women and seven men. As of Monday evening, the names of nine had been released.
Agencies that responded swiftly to the accident included the Compostela Fire service, the Red Cross, the Nayarit State Police and Civil Protection, the National Guard, the Federal Highway Police and the Mexican Army.
Witnesses confirmed that emergency personnel arriving at the scene worked quickly to extract injured passengers from the the Spanish-made Irizar bus.
Nayarit state authorities said 33 passengers were injured in the accident, at least seven of them seriously.
All were initially transported to hospitals in the Nayarit capital Tepic.
On Monday, six injured passengers, including a nine-year-old girl with a fractured pelvis, and a seven-year-old boy with a head injury, were flown by helicopter from Tepic to Guadalajara for specialist treatment. Depending on their condition, others were expected to return to Guadalajara in the coming days.
Guadalajara Mayor Pablo Lemus confirmed Monday that the majority of the passengers on the bus were from the neighborhood known as “La Federacha,” located to the northeast of the city. He promised his full support to the families of the victims.
Accidents on the two-lane “Curvas” stretch of Highway 200 are frequent and, according to data from the Ministry of Infrastructure, Communications and Transportation (SICT), have increased by 61 percent in recent years.
This 30-kilometer “death trap” is still an unavoidable section of highway for travelers taking the quickest route from Guadalajara to Puerto Vallarta and other Nayarit and Jalisco coastal towns. The new section of autopista (toll road) between Compostela and Las Varas - the final leg of the long-awaited “Via Corta” toll road from Guadalajara to Puerto Vallarta - has been “in construction” for a decade and a half, plagued by delays (mostly due to engineering issues caused by the difficult terrain, in addition to rising costs and political obstacles), but is slated for completion next year.
It is possible to avoid “Las Curvas” by taking Highway 70/544 via Tala, Ameca and Mascota from Guadalajara to Puerto Vallarta, although the road surface in places is not ideal, and there is a possibility of landslides in the rainy season. The journey is also longer than using the Guadalajara-Tepic and (new) Las Varas-Bucerias toll roads.