Officials have stated efforts to save those trapped in the wreckage.
At least 51 people were killed and others were injured when the bus plunged into a contaminated valley outside Guatemala city, according to Guatemalan officials.
Mynor Ruano, a spokesman for the city’s fire service, told reporters Monday that efforts were underway “to save others” in the wreckage. The bodies of 36 men and 15 women were sent to local morgues.
The bus was travelling busy routes in and out of Guatemala’s capital on Monday when it fell from Puente Belis, a highway bridge across roads and streams.
Footage shared by the fire department on social media shows rescue workers pulling victims from a contaminated valley. The image shows the bus turned upside down.
Guatemala president Bernardo Arevalo has declared three days of citizen mourning and deployed the Army and the Disaster Bureau to support response efforts.
“I am in solidarity with the families of the victims who have been awakened to the heartbreaking news today,” he said. “Their pain is my pain.”
The chairman of the Guatemalan Parliament also issued a social media statement lamenting the “tragic accident” that “more than four dozen Guatemalans lost their lives in search of daily nutrition.”
Guatemala Mayor Ricardo Quinonez said emergency services have been deployed on social media and traffic police are working to establish alternative routes in affected areas.
National Police said they are supporting search and rescue operations and will give them “all necessary support.”
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