28 people crushed and 8 killed in Merida-Cancun highway accident

The accident that occurred on the morning of February 6, near the community of Nuevo Xcán, in Quintana Roo, has so far left 28 people pinned, 19 injured and 8 dead. According to official information, the ADO (company name) passenger bus allegedly overturned after a dump truck, which was loaded with material for the construction of one of the sections of the Mayan Train, crossed its lane.

Allegedly, and according to preliminary information from the rescue corps, it was the dump truck that invaded the ADO's lane, and when trying to avoid it, the bus overturned. Firefighters, the National Guard, the Army, the Red Cross and the Urban Rescue Unit were on the scene.

Emergency corps from several nearby municipalities, who came to the scene to help the injured, transferred the injured to different hospitals in the area such as Playa del Carmen, Valladolid, Cancun, Merida and Puerto Morelos. Security forces were deployed in the area and cordoned off the perimeter to allow the Public Prosecutor's Office to remove the bodies.

The list of passengers traveling on the ADO, on the toll highway from Cancun to Merida via El Tintal, was disseminated on social networks. It was recommended that in case they were relatives or acquaintances they could call 911 to obtain more information and help the injured.

The bus that left for Merida and in which 45 passengers were traveling (some of whom were minors and others foreign tourists), fell to the side of the highway among trees, near Tintal-Playa del Carmen, the events occurred near kilometer 242. At 11:00 am the National Guard, through its road information account on Twitter notified the partial closure of circulation due to the accident, on the stretch in the direction of Cancun.

The driver was rescued by firefighters, as well as other passengers who were inside the bus. It should be noted that the stretch of the highway is narrow, so there was a traffic problem on the road.

There was another accident reported at around 2:45 p.m. on the same platform in which it was detailed that there was a partial traffic closure, approximately at kilometer 190 of the highway (2240), Reforma Agraria-Puerto Juarez, on the Reforma Agraria-Tulum section, in the direction of Tulum. Authorities recommended taking precautions.