Seven children injured after school road accident in Otanche, Boyacá

An accident happened yesterday, March 22, in the municipality of Otanche, Boyacá. It is a private vehicle that provided the school route services to the San Ignacio de Loyola educational institution and that was turned over in one of the sections of the street in Cortadera.

Seven students who received medical care in the same municipality of Otanche were mobilized in the vehicle, except for one under the age of 12 who had to be transferred to the Regional Hospital of Chiquinquirá due to the severity of his injuries.

Juliana Cortázar, manager of the Regional Hospital of Chiquinquirá, commented on the state of health of the transferred minor: “There is severe craniocerebral trauma, we provided medical care and the patient was stabilized, the required medication and mechanical ventilation were adjusted, we did a thorax and skull study, and we generated a vital emergency transfer order to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit of the San Rafael Hospital in Tunja, who work more complex cases and can give appropriate management to this type of patient”.

As indicated by the municipal authorities, it is common for cars of this type to provide the school route service, in addition, the Personero de Otanche indicated that the injured vehicle had all the documents in order: “It is found that there is indeed a contract between the municipality and the contractor Cyber Tour Special Services. The contractor has a contractual liability policy in place, and the driver and the vehicle that were involved complied with all the documents in order.”

Finally, the Personero stressed that the accident did not occur due to the state of the roads, as some speculations had pointed out: “We went to the scene of the events, and yes, it is an uncovered road road, but in general it is in good conditions of transability, it is wide, so I don't think that was the cause”.

Governor Mauricio Aguilar arrived there, who indicated that, according to preliminary information, there is the first hypothesis that a possible mechanical failure in the car caused the road 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.

“On the instructions of our director, General Jorge Luis Vargas, I meet with an expert group from the Criminal Investigation Section of the Directorate of Traffic and Transport that specializes in the reconstruction of accidents in order to determine the causes of this regrettable event. The National Police extends condolences and regrets to relatives for this regrettable loss,” said the senior official.

The affected students belong to the La Laguna de Ortices Institute and this was the first day that the school route service was provided to students.

KEEP READING