At least 17 killed after bus carrying migrants in Mexico crashes

At least 17 people were killed after a bus carrying dozen of migrants from Colombia, Venezuela and Central America crashed in central Mexico, officials from Puebla said.

Interior Minister Julio Huerta told reporters that the accident occurred on Sunday afternoon on a highway after the bus with 45 passengers heading north, lost control, Reuters reported.

He said that 15 people lost their lives at the moment of the accident. Another 15 have been hospitalised, two of whom later died. Five others remain in critical condition.

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The bus driver and the assistant are among the dead, officials added.

Mexican media reported that the bus crashed as the driver lost control of the bus.

According to local prosecutors, the bus, part of the private bus line 'Tours Turistico Media' was travelling from the southern Mexican border city of Tapachula to Mexico City, turned over.

The Puebla state officials did not specify how many of the dead and injured were migrants.

A 56-year-old Colombian man was among the dead, the Colombian Ministry in its statement said.

The survivors included two men and a womanwho are currently hospitalised and an unharmed man who was turned over to migration authorities and also belongs to Colombia.

A representative for Guatemala's foreign ministry told Reuters that so far no Guatemalans have been reported as victims of the incident.

Migrants often take risky routes to cross Mexico to get their way to the US.

Similarly last week, dozens of migrants were killed in Panama after a bus travelling fell off a cliff.

(with inputs from agencies)

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