The Jalalpa Bus Accident

A serious road accident took place in Jalapa, Mexico, on 5 July 2005. The main street - the only point of entry to the town of Jalapa - has a blind bend on a sharp slope at the turning into the town centre. This stretch of road is notorious for being responsible for the deaths of many people in accidents which had taken place on it.

That Monday morning, a bus load of passengers were enjoying the morning breeze through the windows as the vehicle made a descent down the Jalalpa slope. The driver of the bus was a young driver who had just obtained his license. Music was blaring as he drove the vehicle as though manoeuvring a roller coaster. A momentary loss of control and the overturning of the bus left passengers seriously hurt and traumatised. Passengers standing near the doorway of the bus were flung out of the vehicle and the very unfortunate ones of these were caught beneath the bus as it overturned. The overturned bus trapped more than 30 passengers, including young children. Passers-by rushed to the overturned bus, calming the passengers down and assuring them of help which was on the way. Some passers-by, on seeing the crushed victims under the bus, became hysterical and had to be pulled aside by the stronger men.

A young witness of the accident, a boy of seven years, sought help at the Armonia Centre where the Transformation Course rescue team was. Members of the team rushed to the scene of the accident and while some formed a human chain to cordon off the area, others got on the bus to pull the trapped passengers to safety. It was a difficult task as the bus had landed on the side on which the doors were. Rescuers had to break the larger windows and roof ventilations to get into the bus. On top of that, many of the passengers were seriously injured, with many of them bleeding and some concussed. The most disheartening part of it was that the reckless driver, who had survived the crash and was among the first people to be rescued, took off for fear that he would be charged for negligence.

The police and ambulance sirens resounded in the streets shortly after the rescue team arrived on the scene. Woefully, these authorities were ill-equipped and were not trained to deal with situations like the one which had happened. Bed sheets from nearby residences were used in place of bandages while discarded planks were used as stretchers. It was hours before all of the injured were taken to the various hospitals. A shocking fact here was that in Jalalpa, a hospital could house no more than ten patients at a time!