A bus, in which 32 people were traveling and which was the last of a caravan, overturned on the Guantánamo highway
Four people dead and 28 injured -among them 2 children- is the balance of a massive traffic accident occurred this Monday when a bus overturned on the highway in the province of Guantánamo, in the extreme east of Cuba. The bus that crashed was the last of a caravan and 32 people were traveling in it, including professors who provide services in Havana and their families, details a note published in the newspaper Venceremos of the eastern province. Four of the injured underwent surgery at the Agostinho Neto Teaching General Hospital, in the provincial capital.
Eyewitnesses to the accident claimed that no other vehicles were involved in the accident whose causes are being investigated by the authorities. This is the second massive accident registered in the first days of the new year. According to local media reports, one prior to this Monday left 12 injured on the access bridge of the highway that links Havana with the western province of Pinar del Río.
In the final days of last year and at the beginning of 2023, there has been an increase in traffic accidents on the island, several of them involving mass and serious transport with deaths. A recent report from the National Highway Commission (CNA) stated that between January and October 2022, 566 people died and 6,175 were injured in Cuba due to 8,187 traffic accidents. At the end of October, the accident rate indicators on the island showed an increasing trend in relation to 2019, 2020 and 2021, according to that evaluation. The National Highway Commission points out that among the main causes of accidents on Cuban streets and highways is failure to control the vehicle, violating the right of way, lane invasion and speeding. To this is added the increase in the circulation of mopeds, the deficient state of the country’s road network due to lack of maintenance, little road education and the presence of a fleet characterized by its age, with cars with more than 50 years.
In all of 2021, there were 8,354 accidents that represented an increase of 8.32% (632) compared to 2020 and left 589 deaths, while in 2020, the 7,712 accidents reported on Cuban roads left 475 deaths.