19 Die, 22 Hurt as Ensenada Bus Rolls Down Slope; Brakes Blamed

At least 19 people died and 22 others were injured, many seriously, when the brakes apparently failed on a local bus that tumbled off an unpaved neighborhood road Monday in Ensenada, Mexican authorities said.

“It appears that the driver couldn’t stop the vehicle,” said Elias Padilla Gonzalez, who heads the Ensenada branch of the Baja California transit department, which is investigating.

The bus--by some reports more than 20 years old--was filled to capacity and speeding out of control down a hill when it veered off a sharp curve on an unpaved road leading from the Valle Verde neighborhood northeast of downtown Ensenada and rolled more than 50 yards down an embankment, officials said Tuesday. The vehicle rolled over many times before stopping at the bottom of a hill, shortly after 11:30 a.m. Driving conditions, already hazardous on the steep, rocky roadway, were worsened by recent rain, authorities said.

No Recent Inspections

Some reports said that the bus hadn’t been inspected in more than a year, but Padilla, who has been in his job for less than two weeks, said he couldn’t estimate when the last inspection occurred. He also denied a report that the bus had no license plates.

Word of the tragedy reverberated throughout the coastal city 70 miles south of San Diego, which was in the midst of its annual, five-day Carnival celebration when the mishap occurred. Many of those aboard the bus were members of poor families from the outlying neighborhood who were headed for the Carnival celebrations downtown, officials said.

“Everyone’s shocked by this,” said Miroslava Cuellar, a spokeswoman for the mayor’s office.

Amid questions about the aging bus’s conditions were immediate demands for an intensive investigation.

“This is a disgrace,” said one police official who asked not to be identified but said he had been at the scene. “A bus in that condition should never have been carrying passengers.”

State authorities plan to investigate to determine if any criminal charges should be filed over the incident, Padilla said.

The bus reached speeds of more than 45 m.p.h. on the route before crashing over the embankment, said a transit police spokeswoman. According to a police interview with one witness, the driver warned passengers, “Hang on! We have no brakes!” shortly before going over the side.

A driver in another vehicle behind the bus noted that its brake lights were lighting up, but the brakes did not appear to be working, an official said.

Immediately after the crash, stunned rescue workers, journalists and relatives arrived to see the dead and injured thrown about the twisted wreckage. Reportedly, one Red Cross nurse who arrived at the scene discovered that her father was among the victims.

‘Totally Crushed’

The bus, reported the Mexicali-based daily, El Mexicano, “was totally crushed . . . as though it had been smashed by a giant hand.” The roof was flattened, both ends were smashed and the axles were twisted.

Fifteen people are said to have died at the scene; one other succumbed Tuesday at Ensenada’s General Hospital and three others have since died. Officials said several survivors were in critical condition and the death toll could rise.

The accident was described as the worst in memory in the fast-growing city of more than 200,000 residents.

Among those dead were two mothers who perished along with their young daughters. Gloria Jasmin Gonzalez Perez, 8, and her mother, Gloria Perez Covarrubias, died in the crash, as did Gloria Guzman Avalos and her daughter, Alexia Torres Guzman, 3.

The bus driver, identified as Martin Rosales, was among those who died in the crash, authorities said.

Family members maintained an all-night vigil Monday in the Funeraria Moreno, where 16 bodies were taken. A mass wake was planned for Tuesday evening; burial was scheduled for this afternoon.

“There is much mourning here,” said Candelaria Garcia, a funeral home employee.

The bus’s roadworthiness was an immediate source of debate throughout the city, as reports circulated concerning the condition of the vehicle, which was described variously as a 1966, 1968 or 1970 U.S.-made model. Many older U.S.-made buses, often former school buses, are in use throughout Mexico, particularly on urban routes connecting residential neighborhoods to city centers.

The bus was owned by a cooperative known as Rojo y Blanco (Red and White), which were also the colors of the vehicle. A company spokesman could not be reached for comment.