/ 14 January 2007

Passenger bus buried in pit in São Paulo

Searchers dug through tonnes of rubble on Saturday in search of as many as eight people believed buried by a construction accident at a commuter rail tunnel in South America’s biggest city, São Paulo.

Officials said a passenger bus was buried at the bottom of a 40m-deep pit dug for an underground railway station.

The lip of the hole gave way to a landslide, taking with it vehicles on a roadway around the edge and dumping tonnes of earth, asphalt and concrete atop them.

Most of the eight believed buried are passengers on a bus, but neither city nor transportation officials would confirm the number.

An hour after the accident, a sister of the bus driver said she received a call for help but that the signal was cut.

The owner of the bus, Cooperativa Transcooper, said the vehicle has an onboard locating device, which confirms that it lay at the bottom of the pit.

Transcooper vice-president Paulo Roberto Santos told the Estado news agency that five or six persons were likely on the bus at the time of the cave-in.

Work was slowed by additional landslides, which loosened the construction site’s crane and threatened to hinder rescue efforts further. — Sapa-AFP