Official: at Least 30 Dead in Guatemala Bus Crash

guatemalaA rescue worker says at least 30 people died when a bus plunged into a deep canyon in northwest Guatemala Monday morning.

Volunteer firefighter Juan Pablo Ucla tells The Associated Press that the bus fell into a river at the bottom of the 600-foot (200-meter) canyon around 8:15 a.m. He says rescuers have pulled at least 40 injured people from the bus, and expect the death toll to grow.

The area around the municipality of San Martín Jilotepeque has mostly dirt roads that wind through steep mountains without guardrails or other safety measures.

 

Guatemala extradites ex-president to US: lawyer

1Գվատեմալան նախկին նախագահին ԱՄՆ է արտահանձնումGuatemala on Friday extradited ex-president Alfonso Portillo to the United States to face money laundering charges.
“Farewell, people of Guatemala,” the former president said as he boarded a flight at a Guatemalan military air force base, an AFP reporter on the scene witnessed. Portillo, who had been fighting extradition, earlier on Friday “received a letter ordering him” to the military base, so that he could be extradited to the United States, his attorney Mauricio Berreondo told AFP.