Bus that was on a school route in Santander had already crashed and did not have permits: Supertransporte

In a press release published on Wednesday, the Superintendency of Transport ruled on the accident of the bus that provided the school route service and fell into an abyss in the rural area of San Andrés, in the department of Santander, on Tuesday, March 22.

The surveillance entity regretted the incident that left six minors dead and fifteen people injured, including the driver. In addition, the Supertransport reported some preliminary details they know about the wrecked vehicle.

For example, the crashed bus was a 1998 model Chevrolet with a capacity for thirty passengers. The age of the vehicle already represents the first irregularity: Decree 348 of 2015, which regulates the special transport service, states that vehicles with white license plates cannot be more than 20 years old.

If vehicles are engaged in special transport, the service life is reduced to fifteen years. After that time, the bus must be scrapped and the Ministry of Transport can replace it with one with similar characteristics but with a suitable age. However, the crashed bus was 24 years old and was assigned to children in this rural area.

Secondly, the bus did not have a valid operating card. This document is issued when a special service vehicle is linked to a legal transport company and meets all the requirements to operate. With the absence of this card, it goes without saying that the SRY939 plate bus was not linked to any transport company.

In addition, the vehicle's history shows that it had already been involved in three traffic accidents, which occurred in 2007 and 2008. In any case, the bus did have a technical-mechanical review, SOAT and policies up to date.

Finally, the Supertransport warned that local authorities will be responsible for carrying out investigations and determining responsibility for the fatal accident. Precisely, the governor of Santander revealed the first hypothesis about the accident.

“The first inquiries are that in those two kilometers that this school transport vehicle had traveled, apparently there was a mishap, it went out, but we are in the area of investigation. We hope that the competent authorities will deal with the case,” explained the local president.

Precisely, the National Police arranged a specialized group, led by the director of the Traffic Section, General Juan Alberto Libreros, with whom it is expected to establish the causes that triggered the car to roll 300 meters through an abyss in the Alto de San Pedro sector.

Of the children who were injured, the poor state of health of the girls Yareli Castellanos Sierra, aged 10, and Jenny Gabriela Osorio stands out Avila, seven years old. Blu Radio learned more details about the health status of the students of the La Laguna de Ortices Institute.

Yareli Castellanos was transferred to the International Hospital of Colombia (HIC) in Piedecuesta, Santander. The radio station learned about the state of health through the director of HIC, Frank Serrato: “In critical condition, we went directly to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, we have it with severe polytrauma, severe head trauma and some fractures in both clavicles”. The doctor also assured that the diagnostic studies indicated that surgical intervention is not required for the time being.

Meanwhile, the case of Jenny Gabriela Osorio was even more complicated. The doctors of the García Rovira Regional Hospital in Malaga had not authorized the transfer of the minor to Bucaramanga until she was stabilized. “He has multiple trauma, severe head trauma, fracture of the right clavicle, blunt chest trauma with right pneumothorax with fracture of the costal arches, closed abdominal trauma and he has a reserved prognosis,” Luis José Medina, manager of the medical center confirmed to Blu Radio.

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