10 dead, 32 injured in Mexico bus crash

A bus accident in eastern Mexico left at least 10 people dead and another 32 injured, authorities in the state of Veracruz said Thursday.

The crash occurred on Christmas Eve in the town of Zontecomatlan, while the vehicle traveled from Mexico City to the village of Chicontepec.

“At this stage we have confirmed nine adults and one child dead,” the Zontecomatlan mayor’s office said in a statement.

The municipality also released a list of 32 people injured, and the hospitals to which they were admitted.

Fatal road accidents, often involving buses or trucks, are common in Mexico. They are often caused by speeding or mechanical failure.

In late November, 10 people were killed and 20 other injured in a similar accident in the western state of Michoacan.

Meanwhile, at least 14 people were injured in a stabbing attack in a factory in central Japan during which an unspecified liquid was also sprayed, an emergency services official said on Friday.

“Fourteen people are subject to transportation by emergency services,” Tomoharu Sugiyama, a firefighting department official in the city of Mishima, in Shizuoka region, told AFP.

He said a call was received at about 4.30 pm (0730 GMT) from a nearby rubber factory saying “five or six people were stabbed by someone” and that a “spray-like liquid” had also been used.

Japanese media, including public broadcaster NHK, reported that police had arrested a man on suspicion of attempted murder.

The seriousness of the injuries was unknown, although NHK said all victims remained conscious.

Sugiyama said at least six of the 14 victims had been sent to hospital in a fleet of ambulances. The exact nature of the injuries was also unclear.

The factory in Mishima is run by Yokohama Rubber Co., whose business includes manufacturing tyres for trucks and buses, according to its corporate website.

Violent crime is relatively rare in Japan, which has a low murder rate and some of the world’s toughest gun laws.

However, there are occasional stabbing attacks and even shootings, including the assassination of former prime minister Shinzo Abe in 2022.

A Japanese man was sentenced to death in October for a shooting and stabbing rampage that killed four people, including two police officers, in 2023.

A 43-year-old man was also charged with attempted murder in May over a knife attack at Tokyo’s Toda-mae metro station.

By Agencies