The Minas Gerais Civil Police (PCMG) has so far identified 15 bodies of victims of the serious accident that occurred in the early hours of last Saturday (21), on the BR-116 federal highway, at kilometer 286, in the municipality of Teófilo Otoni , interior of Minas Gerais. Of this total already identified, 14 bodies were removed by family members. The information was updated this Wednesday morning (25) by the corporation.
The identification process is being carried out at the Legal Medical Institute (IML) in Belo Horizonte. The accident resulted in the death of 41 people in total. They were all on the bus that collided head-on with a trailer and then caught fire, including the driver. Most of the victims were trapped in the wreckage and their bodies were charred by the fire.
A third vehicle, a passenger car, which was behind the bus, was also involved in the accident, but the car’s occupants suffered minor injuries. The interstate transport bus, belonging to the company Emtram, had left São Paulo (SP) headed for Elísio Medrado (BA).
Reception to family members and clarifications on the body identification process continue to be carried out by IML social assistance via telephone: (31) 3379-5059.
“PCMG works quickly to identify the bodies. It is not yet possible to specify how long this process will take, due to the complexity of the tests carried out. It also highlights that, out of respect for the families of the victims, from the first day, the work teams were reinforced, through an extraordinary call for civil servants, with the aim of completing the mission of identifying and releasing the bodies in the shortest possible time,” the Police said in a statement.
Causes
According to investigations, one of the hypotheses considered is that the accident was caused by the tire exploding on the bus, which lost control and collided with the truck. The Civil Police’s other line of investigation is that the trailer was overweight, traveling at high speed, and that, in the district of Lajinha, in Teófilo Otoni, a large block of granite came loose from one of the trailers, falling into the road. track to then be hit by the bus.
Yesterday (24), the driver of the truck, Arilton Bastos Alves, aged 49, presented himself to the Civil Police and gave a statement for around six hours. According to Alves’ defensehe was not at large and would not be responsible for the cause of the accident. The investigations continue in an open police inquiry into the case.
