Runaway bus plows into procession and causes five deaths and 27 injuries in Brazil – World

A runaway bus belonging to public transport in the Brazilian city of Jaboatão dos Guararapes, neighboring Recife, capital of the state of Pernambuco, advanced late this Sunday afternoon into a crowd of faithful taking part in the traditional Easter procession, causing the death of five people and injuring 27 others, most of them seriously. On the morning of Monday, April 1, only one of these 27 injured people had been discharged from hospital.

The tragedy occurred on Avenida Barreto de Meneses, a hill known as Ladeira Adelaide and quite steep, less than 400 meters from the Church of Nossa Senhora do Perpétuo Socorro, where the religious act would end with a mass. Completely out of control, the bus climbed onto the sidewalk, where the crowd had squeezed in upon noticing the vehicle advancing down the hill, hit a wall and continued for a few meters, passing over many people.

When the vehicle finally stopped, amid screams of pain from some people and the despair of the crowd at the scale of the tragedy, the driver fled the scene and appeared this Monday at a police station in the city accompanied by lawyers. The five fatal victims died right there at the scene of the tragedy, and the injured were taken to hospitals in Jaboatão dos Guararapes and Recife, depending on the severity of their injuries.

Some people reported after the tragedy that they saved themselves by squeezing as much as they could against the wall, as they had nowhere to escape, and that they even felt parts of the vehicle hit their backs, causing, in their case, minor injuries. This Monday, people painted the avenue and the wall at the site of the tragedy as a sign of mourning and laid flowers.