School bus accident in Colombia kills 17, injures 20

Seventeen people were killed and 20 were injured after a bus carrying school children fell off a cliff in a rural area in northern Colombia, the local governor said on Sunday night.

In a post on X earlier in the day, the governor of Antioquia, Andres Julian, said the bus was traveling from the Caribbean town of Tolu to Medellin after a school trip and was carrying students from the Antioqueño High School.

The students had been celebrating their graduation on the beach, he added on Sunday night.

“It’s very hard news for the entire community during the time of December,” he said.

Rescuers had to transport survivors out of the treacherous ravine on stretchers. President Gustavo Petro offered condolences to affected families in a post on X.

“I don’t like it when young people die. Even less when they’re going to study or to relax happily,” he wrote.