Nine people died when the van they were traveling in collided with a truck in the south Brazilon Sunday night, local authorities announced.
Seven of the victims were teenagers, members of a rowing team from Pelotasin Rio Grande do Sul, who was returning from a match in São Paulo when the accident occurred in Guaratumba, Paraná.
According to the Brazilian Federal Highway Police, only one of the 10 occupants of the van, a 17-year-old rower, survived. The truck driver, a 30-year-old man, suffered minor injuries, according to the same source.
The police described thatthe truck was unable to brake and hit the back of the vanwhich was thrown forward and then collided with the back of a vehicle, driven by a man, who was not injured.
The van then began to spin and the truck pushed it off the road, landing on top of it, police said.
The president Luís Inácio Lula da Silva expressed his condolences in a social media post:
“There are no words that can describe the pain of losing a child or grandchild. The pain is irreparable”, wrote Lula.
Source: AMPE