At Least 40 Killed as Brazil Bus Plunges Down Ravine

A bus carrying about 50 passengers plunged down into a deep ravine in the mountains of southeastern Brazil late yesterday, killing at least 40 people, a police official said. Police Col. Paulo Henrique Hemm told the G1 news portal that at least a dozen other people were injured and taken to nearby hospitals. Hemm said the cause was still under investigation but that it appeared the driver might have lost control on a curve and the bus then ran off the road and fell into a ravine that is 1,300 feet deep. He said the accident happened in a mountainous area of Santa Catarina state. Those aboard the bus were on their way to a religious event, notes CNN. (More Brazil stories.)