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32 Killed in Guatemala as Truck Plows into Crowd


FILE - People walk along the Inter-American highway as they take an alternative route to reach the village of Parrasquin in Nahuala, Guatemala, Sept. 5, 2010. They had to take this route after a landslide occurred nearby, blocking their original path and leaving many dead.
FILE - People walk along the Inter-American highway as they take an alternative route to reach the village of Parrasquin in Nahuala, Guatemala, Sept. 5, 2010. They had to take this route after a landslide occurred nearby, blocking their original path and leaving many dead.

A truck crashed into a crowd of people in western Guatemala Wednesday evening, killing at least 32 people, authorities said.

The truck struck a group of people who had gone onto the road to inspect another person who had been hit by a car, Cecilio Chacaj, a spokesman for the local fire department, told Reuters.

The crash killed at least 32 people, and nine people were admitted to hospitals in a critical condition, Public Health Minister Carlos Soto said on local radio.

The accident took place in the municipality of Nahuala, west of Guatemala City.

"At this time we are coordinating our response to bring full support to the relatives of the victims," President Jimmy Morales wrote in a post on Twitter. "My heartfelt condolences."

The crash marked one of the country's worst traffic accidents in recent years. In 2013, a bus plunged off a cliff in rural Guatemala, killing at least 43 people and injuring dozens.

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    Reuters

    Reuters is a news agency founded in 1851 and owned by the Thomson Reuters Corporation based in Toronto, Canada. One of the world's largest wire services, it provides financial news as well as international coverage in over 16 languages to more than 1000 newspapers and 750 broadcasters around the globe.

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