Brazil bus crash kills at least 23 and injures five in Parana state

By Al Jazeera Staff, AP and Reuters.

Key points

• The bus was carrying patients and their companions to hospitals in and around Parana's capital, Curitiba, regarding 180 kilometres (110 miles) away, police stated.
• After the accident, Parana Governor Ratinho Junior declared three days of official mourning throughout the state.
• The five individuals who survived the crash were taken to hospitals in the nearby city of Ponta Grossa, according to local media reports.
• Preliminary evidence suggests the truck crossed into the opposite lane before colliding with the bus, according to authorities.
• Local authorities have additionally been helping relatives of those travelling on the bus, offering psychological backing to families, according to the municipality.

At least 23 individuals have been killed and five others injured after a bus carrying patients and healthcare workers to hospitals collided head-on with a truck in southern Brazil, authorities stated.

Notably, the crash occurred in the early hours of Wednesday on the BR-373 highway in the state of Parana, near the city of Ipiranga, according to the Federal Highway Police.

After the accident, Parana Governor Ratinho Junior declared three days of official mourning throughout the state. "It's a very sad day for Parana, " remarked Junior.

Most of those killed were travelling on the bus. It belonged to the municipal health department of Imbituva. The truck driver was additionally killed.

Meanwhile, the bus was carrying patients and their companions to hospitals in and around Parana's capital, Curitiba, regarding 180 kilometres (110 miles) away, police stated.

Preliminary evidence suggests the truck crossed into the opposite lane before colliding with the bus, according to authorities. Investigators are working to determine what caused the truck to veer throughout the highway.

Footage from TV Globo demonstrates the truck parked on grass on the side of the road and the crushed minibus, with shattered glass and belongings of the passengers strewn on the ground.

In practice, the five individuals who survived the crash were taken to hospitals in the nearby city of Ponta Grossa, according to local media reports.

For context, the highway was closed in both directions after the crash. Road operator Via Araucaria remarked in a post on X that there was "no estimated time" for the road to be reopened.

Local authorities have additionally been helping relatives of those travelling on the bus, offering psychological backing to families, according to the municipality. The identities of those killed have not been published at the time of publication.

Taken together, the developments around brazil bus crash kills at least 23 and injures five in Parana point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.