At least 16 people were killed, and 20 others were injured, after a school bus crashed and fell off a cliff in Colombia.
On Sunday, Dec. 14, Andrés Julián, governor of the Colombian state of Antioquia, announced in a post on X that a bus, carrying students from Antioqueño High School, was traveling from the Caribbean town of Tolú to Medellín after a school trip when it crashed and "fell into an abyss."
"So far, more than a dozen people are reported deceased and 20 injured. The entire hospital network has been activated to attend to and support this emergency," Julián wrote in Spanish.
According to local newspaper El Colombiano and the Daily Mail, the crash took place at around 5:40 a.m. local time on Sunday on a road connecting in the rural northern area of El Chispero.
Although the cause of the crash is still unknown, authorities have hypothesized that the driver may have experienced a "microsleep," per El Colombiano. According to the Cleveland Clinic, a microsleep is when an individual loses and regains awareness after a brief lapse in consciousness of around 30 seconds.
Reports show that the bus had been carrying at least 37 passengers when it rolled 80 meters (about 262 feet) down the cliff, per El Colombiano.
The high school has said that the outing was not an official school activity, and instead had been organized by the 11th-grade students.
Colombia's Ministry of Health and Social Inclusion later identified the injured people in a series of X posts, writing that they included four adults and 12 minors.
Per El Colombiano, the mayor of the nearby town of Segovia, Edwin Castañeda, said that injured people were taken to two hospitals, including one in Segovia and the San Vicente de Paúl Hospital in Remedios.
Among the fatalities was the driver, identified as Johnatan Taborda Cocacolo.
In a social media post, Antioqueño High School wrote that it "deeply regretted what happened to our students and their families."
"Students from the graduating class of 2025 who participated in the graduation trip, we embrace them in this moment of great sorrow and offer our support to our entire community," the school wrote, alongside a photo of a black ribbon to symbolize mourning.
On Sunday, Dec. 14, Andrés Julián, governor of the Colombian state of Antioquia, announced in a post on X that a bus, carrying students from Antioqueño High School, was traveling from the Caribbean town of Tolú to Medellín after a school trip when it crashed and "fell into an abyss."
"So far, more than a dozen people are reported deceased and 20 injured. The entire hospital network has been activated to attend to and support this emergency," Julián wrote in Spanish.
According to local newspaper El Colombiano and the Daily Mail, the crash took place at around 5:40 a.m. local time on Sunday on a road connecting in the rural northern area of El Chispero.
Although the cause of the crash is still unknown, authorities have hypothesized that the driver may have experienced a "microsleep," per El Colombiano. According to the Cleveland Clinic, a microsleep is when an individual loses and regains awareness after a brief lapse in consciousness of around 30 seconds.
Reports show that the bus had been carrying at least 37 passengers when it rolled 80 meters (about 262 feet) down the cliff, per El Colombiano.
The high school has said that the outing was not an official school activity, and instead had been organized by the 11th-grade students.
Colombia's Ministry of Health and Social Inclusion later identified the injured people in a series of X posts, writing that they included four adults and 12 minors.
Per El Colombiano, the mayor of the nearby town of Segovia, Edwin Castañeda, said that injured people were taken to two hospitals, including one in Segovia and the San Vicente de Paúl Hospital in Remedios.
Among the fatalities was the driver, identified as Johnatan Taborda Cocacolo.
In a social media post, Antioqueño High School wrote that it "deeply regretted what happened to our students and their families."
"Students from the graduating class of 2025 who participated in the graduation trip, we embrace them in this moment of great sorrow and offer our support to our entire community," the school wrote, alongside a photo of a black ribbon to symbolize mourning.
