San Crist\u00f3bal
\nPolice in Guatemala are investigating what could have caused a passenger bus to crash through a guardrail and tumble into a ravine.
\nAt least 55 of the around 70 people on board were killed in the accident, which happened in the early hours of Monday, local time.
\nRescuers struggled to recover the bodies from the creek into which the bus had plunged.
\nGuatemalan President Bernardo Ar\u00e9valo has declared three days of national mourning for the victims of the crash, one of the deadliest road traffic accidents in the region for years.
\nThe bus normally covered the route between San Crist\u00f3bal Acasaguastl\u00e1n and Guatemala City, officials said.
\nOn Monday it had reportedly left the village of San Antonio La Paz at around 04:00 local time.
\nAbout 30 minutes later, on the outskirts of Guatemala City, it plunged 20m (65ft) from a bridge into a creek carrying wastewater.
\nPhotos from the scene show the bus, lying on its roof, wheels in the air, in the shallow water.
\nLocal media said the bus had been full of students, commuters, and people on their way to the capital for medical appointments.
\nAs news of the accident spread, worried relatives gathered at the foot of the bridge waiting for news of their loved ones.
\nOne woman told Guatemalan news site La Hora that her 67-year-old husband had set off at four in the morning but had never made it to work.
\nAnother woman had identified the body of her brother, who had been on board the bus.
\nRescue workers said they had retrieved 53 bodies so far.
\nTwo people who had been rescued alive from the wreck died in hospital, bringing the total number of dead to 55.
\nThe 24-year-old driver is reportedly among those who died.
\nEyewitnesses described seeing the vehicle crash into two cars before it hit the guardrail and fell into the precipice.
\nInvestigators said they would check if the driver could have lost control due to a brake failure.
\nGuatemala\u2019s communications minister, Miguel D\u00edaz Bobadilla, told reporters the bus was around 30 years old but had a valid licence for carrying passengers.
\nD\u00edaz Bobadilla added that officials were checking if it may have carried more weight than it should have.
\nPolice are also investigating a gun they found on board the bus.
\nThe discovery of the weapon has given rise to speculation in local media that the driver may have panicked or been injured when he was threatened with the gun.
\nThe deputy director-general of Guatemala\u2019s National Civil Police, Helver Beltet\u00f3n, said the gun was registered to one of the deceased passengers, who worked as a private security guard.
\nBeltet\u00f3n said that police were not \u201cruling out any hypothesis\u201d.
\nHe added that \u201cthe brakes could have failed but we\u2019re also not ruling out an accident or a criminal act, all that will be investigated\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
San Crist\u00f3bal Police in Guatemala are investigating what could have caused a passenger bus to crash through a guardrail and tumble into a ravine. At least 55 of the around 70 people on board were killed in the accident, which happened in the early hours of Monday, local time. Rescuers struggled to recover the bodies […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":461064,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-461033","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n