Ecuador's Integrated Security Service ECU 911 confirmed that 18 people died and 25 others were injured in a bus accident on Saturday.
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The accident occurred in the Huambi sector located in the Sucua community in the Morona Santiago province.
The Health Ministry informed that seven injured people were taken to the General Hospital of Macau, 17 to the Basic Hospital of Sucua, and one to the Ecuadorian Institute of Social Security (IESS) Hospital.
In the incident, 18 people lost their lives and their bodies were taken to the Sucua morgue to be delivered to their relatives.
The National Police stated that the accident was related to a loss of traffic lane that caused the bus covering the route Macas-Loja to crash and overturn.
According to witnesses, the impact was so strong that several light poles collapsed at the time of the crash. The sector was even left without electricity.
So far this year, 17,441 traffic accidents have occurred in the South American nation, in which 14,236 people have been injured and 1,715 have died.