Truck driving on the wrong lane rams into bus, 18 killed and 12 injured

Firefighters put out the fire of a wrecked bus that collided head on with a truck near San Martin, Argentina. (AP)

Authorities in Argentina say a truck driving on the wrong side of a highway crashed head-on into a passenger bus, killing at least 18 people and injuring 12. Matias Roby, health minister for Mendoza province, says the vehicles burst into flames when they collided on Friday on the National Route 7, about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) west of the capital, Buenos Aires.

A video taken by a motorist and broadcast on local television showed the truck, which had Brazilian plates and carried garlic, driving on the wrong way minutes before the crash. Roby said 12 of the bodies were burned in the bus and another eight people died after being taken to hospitals. “The image of the burnt bodies inside the bus was wrenching. I’d never seen anything like it,” he said.