AGENCIES<\/p>\n

At least 18 people died and 33 were injured in Panama on Sunday when a bus veered off a highway and flipped into a ravine and then a river, the authorities said.<\/p>\n

Civil Defense officer Jose Donderis said the bus headed from the Bocas del Toro province on the Caribbean Sea to a ranch in Chame \u2014 a town on the Pacific Ocean some seven hours away \u2014 crashed near Cienaga Vieja in Anton, Cocle province, southwest of Panama City, around 1900 GMT.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a really dramatic accident,\u201d he said, adding that the cause was not yet known.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe entire bus, the inside part of the bus, was squeezed into the part where the driver would be and a lot of people were trapped there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many of the injured were in critical condition, Donderis said. He had previously reported 10 people died in the crash.<\/p>\n

Other passengers drowned when the bus fell into the river, Donderis added.<\/p>\n

Helicopters and ambulances have been sent to the scene, he said.<\/p>\n

At least 18 people died and 33 were injured in Panama on Sunday when a bus veered off a highway and flipped into a ravine and then a river, the authorities said.<\/p>\n

Civil Defense officer Jose Donderis said the bus headed from the Bocas del Toro province on the Caribbean Sea to a ranch in Chame \u2014 a town on the Pacific Ocean some seven hours away \u2014 crashed near Cienaga Vieja in Anton, Cocle province, southwest of Panama City, around 1900 GMT.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a really dramatic accident,\u201d he said, adding that the cause was not yet known.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe entire bus, the inside part of the bus, was squeezed into the part where the driver would be and a lot of people were trapped there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many of the injured were in critical condition, Donderis said. He had previously reported 10 people died in the crash.<\/p>\n

Other passengers drowned when the bus fell into the river, Donderis added.<\/p>\n

Helicopters and ambulances have been sent to the scene, he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

AGENCIES At least 18 people died and 33 were injured in Panama on Sunday when a bus veered off a highway and flipped into a ravine and then a river, the authorities said. Civil Defense officer Jose Donderis said the bus headed from the Bocas del Toro province on the Caribbean Sea to a ranch […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":3487,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[8],"tags":[3001,2999,362,291],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\n