Authorities have confirmed the deaths of eight minors as the result of a school bus accident in the Nariño department in southwest Colombia.
Civil Defense Commander Coronel Mario Orozco informed Caracol Radio that the minors were killed after the bus transporting them in the Escandoy neighborhood in the La Cruz municipality drove over the edge of a cliff. The cause of the accident is currently unknown.
The eight victims, between the ages of 12 and 16, were students at the Escuela Normal Nacional, in Pasto, in the south of the department.
Another two minors are currently in critical condition in the Buen Samaritano hospital in La Cruz, while area authorities are working to evacuate the bodies of the victims and the rest of the injured students, reported newspaper Semana.
