The vehicle overturned on a bridge known as El Francés
14ymedio, Havana, 2 January 2025 — One dead and 63 injured, including 13 minors, was the toll of an crash this Thursday morning at kilometer 71 of the highway that connects Camagüey with Santa Cruz del Sur. According to information from the official profile of Radio Santa Cruz, a private truck used for transporting passengers overturned on a bridge known as El Francés.
According to the report, the driver lost control of the vehicle. The first published images of the crash show the truck that fell to the side of the road in an area full of vegetation. The front area, where the engine is located, and part of the driver’s seat were practically crushed.
The photographs show the presence of neighbors who are assisting and trying to help those left behind in the truck, something that is also mentioned in the Radio Santa Cruz report: “The solidarity of the locals was not long in coming, who massively went to the institution in the white coat sector to support in whatever was necessary.”
The same profile also stated that “members of the Ministry of the Interior and the main political, governmental and Public Health authorities immediately went to the scene.”
The photographs show the presence of neighbors who assist and try to help those who remained in the truck.
Reporting on Facebook, the witness said that “at all times, the necessary medical and nursing staff and the essential resources for the care of all these people have been available.” He also detailed that the injured were transferred to the José Espiridón Santiesteban Báez municipal hospital in ambulances and alternative transport.
The incident had already been reported on social media hours earlier. “We had been hearing the ambulances passing by for a while and we knew that something had happened,” said one Facebook user, adding that “these accidents are preventable. They are racing around in trucks and this is not the first time that a truck on the Santa Cruz highway has overturned on a bridge.”
Several Facebook users initially reported that there were at least two dead, an eight-year-old child and an adult. However, the official report stated that the deceased is Ramón Chávez Águila, although it did not specify his age. An Internet user, Yanecita Mesa, said in the Revolico Santa Cruz del Sur group that the person who died is her “cousin Ramoncito,” a name that matches the one in the report.
After the crash, many Internet users in the province called on the population to come and donate blood.
This is the third traffic crash in less than two weeks on the island that has resulted in deaths. During the last days of December, the deaths of five people, two of them minors, were reported in two crashes in Ciego de Ávila.
The government has blamed the “human factor ” for the crashes in the country. “The frequency and dynamics of traffic accidents in the country continue to be marked by the irresponsibility of drivers and pedestrians,” said the official newspaper Granma in January of last year, which attributed 91% of the accidents to the population.
This is the third crash in less than two weeks on the island that has left people dead
However, in many cases, the wear and tear of the cars, which exceed their useful life by years, with between 40 and 70* years of operation, as well as the poor condition of the roads in the country that are used by the majority of the population, have contributed to the constant occurrence of traffic accidents in the country.
According to data published by the Ministry of the Interior’s traffic authorities, crashes on Cuban roads decreased by 13% (543 fewer) in the first half of last year compared to the same period in 2023, and the number of deaths and injuries fell by 23% and 5%, respectively. However, these data do not reflect the decrease in the population, mainly due to emigration.
Meanwhile, 8,556 crashes occurred throughout 2023, which represented a 13% decrease compared to the 9,848 reported in 2022. There were 5,938 injuries, 7% less than the previous year, but the number of deaths increased (729), according to official figures.
*Translator’s note: Many American cars manufactured as early as the 1950s remain in daily use in Cuba.
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