LA PAZ – Twelve people were killed and nine others injured Friday in a head-on collision between a bus and truck in the central Bolivian province of Cochabamba, authorities said.
The accident took place before dawn near the town of Challa Grande, 109 kilometers (68 miles) from Cochabamba city, the provincial capital, regional transit director Jorge Butron said.
A bus bound for the western province of Oruro collided with a truck carrying both passengers and cargo from La Paz to Cochabamba, Butron said in comments cited by official news agency ABI.
Eleven occupants of the truck died, as did the bus driver’s adolescent assistant, according to the police report.
The injured include both drivers and a 5-month-old baby.
Some 1,000 people a year die on Bolivia’s roads, and another 40,000 are injured.
The number of accidents goes up during the rainy season, from October through March.
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