MEXICO CITY: A tractor-trailer rig that swerved to avoid another vehicle had 10 people packed into the cab when it crashed, burned and fell 20 meters off a bridge, killing everyone aboard, authorities in western Mexico say.
Prosecutors in Michoacan state said late yesterday that six of the people who died over the weekend were children. All were from the same small town, but there was no explanation of why so many people were in the cab.
The accident began when a sport utility vehicle crashed into a median barrier on a bridge that crosses over a railroad line. Both occupants were injured but survived.
The driver of the tractor-trailer swerved to avoid the SUV, but the truck flipped onto its side and skidded about 15 yards (meters), leaving the cab hanging off the side of the bridge.
The cab then caught fire and fell off the bridge onto the railroad tracks below.