19 dead in Argentina bus accident

MENDOZA, Argentina: A bus overturned in Argentina on Saturday near Aconcagua, the highest mountain outside Asia, killing at least 19 people and leaving 20 injured, officials said. Operated by the Chilean company Turbus, the bus was traveling from the province of Mendoza toward Chile with 40 people on board when the accident occurred in the Andes region, more than 1,000 kilometers from Buenos Aires.

"Sixteen people died on the scene and another three in the hospital," Oscar Sagas, health undersecretary for the province, told the local news network Siete de Mendoza.

The province’s attorney general, Alejandro Gulle, said that the two Chilean bus drivers, who survived the crash, were held for questioning in the town of Uspallata, a tourist spot near Aconcagua, which at 6,960 meters is the tallest peak outside the Himalayas.

The authorities are investigating the cause of the accident, which occurred in the afternoon under good weather conditions and on a well-maintained major road between Argentina and Chile.