MAY 19 -
Thirty-one children were burned to death when a bus they were traveling
in caught fire in northern Colombia, the Red Cross said.
Another 25 people - including one adult - were injured and seriously
burned in the accident near the town of Fundacion, Cesar Uruena with the
Colombian Red Cross told AFP.
"The injured have second and third-degree burns, and many are still in a
critical condition" in hospitals in the area and in the city of Santa
Marta, Uruena said.
The children aboard the bus were between the ages of one and eight and
were returning home after a religious service, Fundacion Mayor Luz
Stella Duran told reporters.
Department of Magdalena police told AFP that the bus exploded around
noon, and that the fire was so severe they had problems determining the
number of casualties.
Stella Duran said that - according to survivors - the bus driver had
been handling a container with gasoline aboard the vehicle. Police
initially blamed the fire on a mechanical problem.
The driver has vanished, and angry locals went to his home and threw rocks at his windows, the mayor said.
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos travelled to Fundacion after a
final re-election campaign rally Sunday in Bogota ahead of the May 25
presidential vote.
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