A bus with around 50 people on board carrying children - ranging in age from toddlers to 12 year olds - home from a church service caught fire in the city of Fundacion in the Colombian Department of Magdalena, killing at least 32 children. Many of the remaining passengers were hospitalised.
Police reports suggest that the bus was overcrowded and the driver is believed to have been charged with aggravated manslaughter. Local reports suggest that he may have left the bus engine running with the children on board when he got out to put fuel in the vehicle’s tank from a portable container.
Bus accidents are frequent in Colombia as safety inspections and transportation laws are rarely enforced. The driver is alleged to have been operating the bus without a license or insurance; the vehicle’s registration papers were out of date and the bus was carrying twice the maximum number of passengers allowed.
Investigators are endeavouring to confirm what caused the fire.
