Four dead, 16 injured as tour bus plunges in Machu Picchu

A bus carrying passengers to the Machu Picchu world heritage site plunged from a ravine near the ancient Inca ruins. Four tourists were killed, and 16 were left injured in a bus accident near Machu Picchu in Peru. Per media reports, the bus carrying the tourists en route to the world-famous site plunged near a ravine.

Among the deceased were three Colombian nationals and a local citizen, Peru’s Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism confirmed.

While escorting the tourists, the bus slipped from the steep inclines at the Inca ruins around 7 pm on Sunday. According to Tourism Minister Roberto Sanchez, the Mercedes Sprinter vehicle fell off a ravine of over 100 meters.


Machu Picchu is one of the most famous UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The ancient site is listed as one of the Seven Wonders of the World by the New 7 Wonders Foundation, Zurich.

It is also one of the most visited historical monuments in the world, with more than 1.7 million visitors recorded in 2017.



Sunday's incident was probably the worst accident near Machu Picchu recently. According to Sanchez, there was fog on the winding Abra Malaga road, about a 100kms from the ancient city of Cusco. The injured were transported to the two local clinics in the town, though most of them have been discharged.

Canadian tourist, Floya Francis Alexander Jones, admitted to the Peruano Suiza Clinic at Cusco, is reportedly under intensive care.

The national tourism minister was in Cusco since the early hours of Monday.

The ministry has informed that it was monitoring the situation of those wounded and organizing transport for the deceased bodies. Among the survivors was Timothee Malexieux, a French national.

Timothee informed that he was asleep when the bus crashed, and so was most passengers on the bus.