Two Dutch dead, 12 injured in Ecuador bus crash

Two Dutch visitors were killed and 12 others injured following a collision between two buses in southeastern Ecuador, authorities and press said on Monday.

“On Sunday night, two Dutch people died in a tragic bus accident at Tena in Ecuador,” wrote the Dutch foreign affairs ministry on Twitter.

The two victims were a 74-year-old woman and 73-year-old man, both from close to Amsterdam, the ministry said.

There were 21 Dutch people traveling in a tourist bus.

Of the dozen injured taken to a hospital in Tena, two were in a critical condition, the medical facility’s director Fabian Chango told reporters.

Ecuador emergency services said paramedics treated 19 Dutch aged between 41 and 75, and one Ecuadoran.

Police officer Hugo Amores said the accident happened on the road between Tena and Baeza in Napo province, more than 1,000-kilometers (621 miles) southeast of Quito.

Road crashes are one of the main causes of death in Ecuador.

In 2021, 2,131 road deaths were registered, close to the record of 2,322 from 2014.

So far this year, close to 1,500 people have died in road crashes, according to the national transport agency.

In July, eight people died and 20 were injured when a bus crashed on the outskirts of Quito.