FOREIGN: DEATH TOLL IN BRAZIL BUS CRASH RISES TO 41

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Authorities on Sunday raised to 41 the death toll in a weekend bus crash in southeastern Brazil that President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called a “terrible tragedy.”

That toll was up from the 38 deaths announced after the crash Saturday, when the Federal Highway Police called it the worst accident on the nation’s highways since 2007.

The Civil Police told reporters Sunday that “41 bodies” had been removed from the accident scene near the mining town of Teofilo Otoni, in Minas Gerais state.

The bus was traveling from Sao Paulo, in the southeast, to northeastern Bahia state, when, federal police said, a large block of granite apparently fell from a truck traveling in the opposite direction and struck the bus.

The bus then burst into flames during the ensuing wreck.

It took hours for rescue workers to extinguish the flames, clear the wreckage and remove all victims.

The dead included the bus driver and at least one child, authorities said.

The truck driver fled the scene, military police said, adding that his license was suspended two years ago.

Lula took to social media to offer prayers for “the recovery of the survivors of this terrible tragedy” and send condolences to the victims’ families.

An accident last month in northeastern Alagoas state claimed 17 lives when a bus plunged into a ravine on a remote mountain road.

AFP