Mexico bus crash kills at least 12 people

MANUEL JESUS ORTEGA CANCHE/AFP/Getty Images

Video grab of Mexican police officers standing guard in the area where a bus driving tourists to Chacchoben archaeological zone overturned in the road in Mexico on December 19, 2017

Twelve people died and 18 were injured on Tuesday in Mexico’s state of Quintana Roo when a tour bus lost control and rolled over during an excursion to ancient ruins.

The bus was carrying 31 passengers, including citizens of the United States, Brazil and Sweden, authorities said. A child was among the dead. Quintana Roo is one of three states on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, which contains major tourist destinations.

The passengers had been aboard a cruise ship, according to a statement from Costa Maya, the company that operated the bus.

The tourists were headed to the archaeological zone of Chacchoben, an ancient Mayan ruin south of the resort town of Tulum, when the vehicle veered off the highway early on Tuesday morning.

After the accident, passengers were taken to local hospitals, Costa Maya said. Five have been discharged and the injured were in stable condition, it said.

The government of Quintana Roo said in a statement that it was taking steps to determine the cause of the accident.

Last year, 11 tourists were killed in a crash in Quintana Roo when their bus flipped en route to Cancun, the Associated Press reported.