At least 20 killed in double-decker bus blaze in Peru capital Lima
- Authorities say the bus stopped at a shop illegally selling petrol and victims on the first floor appear to have been carrying fuel with them
At least 20 people were killed and eight injured when a double-decker bus they were travelling in caught on fire in the Peruvian capital Lima on Sunday, a spokesman for the country’s firefighters said.
Witnesses said the fire started in the bus’s motor at the rear of the vehicle and quickly spread inside, according to spokesman Lewis Mejia, in broadcast comments on local television channel Canal N.
The cause of the fire was under investigation, he said.
Lima’s Mayor Jorge Munoz said the bus burst into flames at a bus stop authorities had banned just weeks ago because it was next to an illegal shop that sells fuel.
“It appears that on the second floor of the bus, where most of the victims were found, they were transporting fuel. That’s a very serious matter,” Munoz told journalists in broadcast comments before visiting survivors at a local hospital.
Passers-by described scenes of panic and cries of terror