Authorities meet to discuss informal transportation on waterways

Authorities in north-eastern Peru’s Loreto region met on Friday to analyze options aimed at restraining informal transportation on the region’s waterways after a ferry sank in the Amazon River this week, state news agency Andina reported.

“The idea is to agree on immediate actions and disciplinary measures to improve transportation security on Amazon rivers to help save lives,” the head of the region’s civil defense, Robert Falcón, said. Read more…

Civil society group proposes creation of new government agency to improve traffic

A group of organizations led by Cruzada Vial, a Lima-based civil society association, has proposed the creation of an independent government agency to oversee the improvement of Peru’s transportation system, state news agency Andina reported.

Peru’s ombudsman – the Defensoria del Pueblo – reported last March that there were more than 86,000 traffic accidents in 2009 killing 3,243 people and injuring more than 48,000 others. Read more…

Fourteen die, four injured when bus plunges into Lake Titicaca

At least 14 people have died and four more injured when a bus traveling to the city of Juliaca in Peru’s Puno department lost control and fell 100 meters off a cliff into the waters of Lake Titicaca, state news agency Andina reported.

“We’ve been able to remove from the waters, with the support of the population and some boats, 14 people who were killed, among them a 7-month-old baby,” police officer Zócimo Contreras was quoted as saying.

According to RPP radio station, the injured have been taken to a hospital in Juliaca.

The bus reportedly belonged to the San Román company and was traveling from Cuzco to Juliaca when the accident occurred early Monday morning in the district of Conima.

By late Monday afternoon, rescue teams were still working on removing victims from the bus which remained some 70 meters below the surface of the lake.

Five more people were killed in a separate accident on Sunday when a car crashed into a truck less than 100 miles from Lima on a central highway to Peru’s central Junín region, Spanish news agency Efe reported.

Peru’s ombudsman – the Defensoría del Pueblo – reported last March that in 2009 there were more than 86,000 traffic accidents in the country. The accidents killed 3,243 people and injured more than 48,000 others.

Inter-provincial bus loses control on remote mountain road and plunges into abyss

An inter-provincial bus carrying 35 passengers lost control on a remote mountain road in the Ayacucho department and plunged into an abyss, state news agency Andina reported.

Police officer Vladimir Gómez said the accident occurred early Tuesday morning in Ayacucho’s La Mar province. The bus was registered to the Cholito Bus company. It was traveling from the town of Huamanga in Ayacucho to Pichari district in the department of Cuzco.

He said the number of fatalities is still unknown.

“The area where the accident occurred is almost three hours from (the town of) San Francisco and communication is very difficult,” said Gómez. “Currently, 15 injured people have been taken to the hospital in the district, of which some will be transferred to Huamanga for their seriousness. But, we cannot give an exact number of deaths.”

Gómez was unable to give the exact cause of the accident. He said, however, that it could have been due to heavy rainfall in the area.

Traffic-related accidents kill more than 3,200 in 2009

Traffic accidents in Peru last year killed 3,243 people and injured more than 48,000 others, according to a report cited by daily Peru.21.

The report by Peru’s ombudsman – the Defensoría del Pueblo – said that in total there were more than 86,000 traffic accidents in 2009.

In Lima, 635 people died in traffic accidents. Almost 20 percent of the accidents in the capital city were caused by mini-buses, called Combis, that can fit about 15 people and which race to pick up passengers. Almost 18 percent of accidents were caused by regular buses, 14.7 percent by cars, 10 percent by trucks and almost 5 percent by three-wheelers called mototaxis. Read more…

Transportation Ministry: Tourist planes older than 30 years will be decommissioned in August

Tourist airplanes more than 30 years old will be decommissioned in August in an attempt to improve safety after a small plane crashed last week near the famous Nazca Lines killing seven people, Transportation and Communications Minister Enrique Cornejo announced Thursday.

The policy will be extended to tourist planes older than 20 years in 2011 and require them to have at least eight seats.

“We don’t want really small planes because they are not suitable for tourism transportation,” Cornejo told state news agency Andina. He added the ministry will only provide licenses for new tourist planes that are less than 15 years old after April 5 this year.

Cornejo said the policy will update the current fleet of planes in Peru that provide tourism services to the ancient geoglyphs in Nazca, various attractions in Cusco and the Colca Canyon, located in the southern Arequipa department.

More than 130 of Peru’s 299 tourist planes are more than 30 years old, including the Cessna U206F that crashed last Thursday, daily El Comercio reported. Three Chilean tourists, three Peruvian tourists and the pilot were killed. One of the passengers was a child. The airplane was registered to the Nazca Airlines company.

Despite the age of the airplane, the general manager of the company, Franklin Horler, said the Cessna was in “perfect technical condition.”

Tourist planes flying over the Nazca lines have crashed before. In April 2008, five French tourists were killed when their plane crashed.

Tourist plane crashes by Nazca lines; Seven die

Seven people have been killed after a small plane carrying tourists crashed Thursday morning near the famous Nazca lines, located about 250 miles south of Lima in Peru’s arid coastal Ica department.

Police in Nazca said three Chilean tourists, three Peruvian tourists and the pilot were killed. One of the passengers was reportedly a child. The airplane was registered to the Nazca Airlines company.

The director of the National Institute of Culture in Ica, Américo Baiocchi, told state news agency Andina that the plane crash did not damage the UNESCO World Heritage site.

Tourist planes flying over the Nazca lines have crashed before. In April 2008, five French tourists were killed when their plane crashed.

Peru’s aeronautics industry blog Aeronoticias reported the Cessna U206F that crashed Thursday was the same plane that made an emergency landing on the Pan-American Highway on Nov. 17, 2008, and called for an investigation of Nazca Airlines  and Aeroica.  Both airline companies “have the same general manager,” Aeronoticias reported. “It should be made known since when did they have their active certification or authorizations to operate over the Nazca Lines.” Read more…

Head-on collision in La Libertad kills 38, injures 55

A head-on collision between two passenger buses in northern Peru has left at least 38 people dead and more than 55 injured, daily El Comercio reported.

The accident occurred early Monday morning on the Pan-American highway in the province of Virú, about eight hours north of Lima in La Libertad department. An inter-provincial bus registered to the América Express transportation company traveling south between Trujillo and Chimbote crashed into a bus from the Crisolito company traveling between Lima and Chiclayo. Read more…

Bus collision leaves at least 17 dead, many injured in Cusco

At least 17 people are dead and more than 60 injured after two buses collided along a highway in the southern Andean region of Cusco, state news agency Andina reported.

The accident occurred on Wednesday evening in the Quispicanchi province when an inter-provincial bus registered to the Copacabana transport company traveling from Puno to Cusco crashed into the back of a bus from the Oriental company, which had stopped on the side of the road to pick up passengers. Read more…

Government recommends closing mine after explosion kills eight workers

Peru’s Ministry of Energy and Mines recommended the closing of a coal mine where an explosion killed eight workers on Wednesday. The coal mine is operated by Gazuna Mining company and located in the Oyón province, about 180 miles north-east of Lima. Read more…

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