Bus accident kills 14 in Ecuador

The incident occurred in the Molleturo area in the Andean province of Azuay, where the city of Cuenca is the country’s third most populous urban centre.

Official update

The Ecuadorian emergency service ECU911 said on social media that the death toll on the Cuenca–Molleturo highway had risen to 14, with 29 people injured. It added that coordinated emergency teams were searching the area for any further possible victims, without specifying the number of passengers on board.

Traffic accidents remain among the leading causes of death in Ecuador. Official figures show more than 2,000 fatalities in road crashes last year, compared with a record 2,373 deaths in 2023.