At least 43 dead in Mexico crash

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ALAMO, Mexico, April 20 (UPI) -- At least 43 people were killed and 18 were injured Friday when a bus and a tractor-trailer collided near Alamo, Veracruz, state officials said.

The Veracruz governor's office issued a statement saying the collision occurred before dawn. Rescue teams were on the scene, as were state and federal police, CNN reported.

The big rig was pulling two trailers and the bus was overloaded with passengers, authorities said.

The bus was carrying 70 people, likely farm workers headed for work in the northern state of Coahuila, the Los Angeles Times said.

A spokeswoman for the Veracruz government said the big rig driver uncoupled the second trailer, which had hit the bus, and took off, the newspaper reported.

The collision came about a week after a similar crash in which a bus was struck by one of two trailers. Six bus passengers were killed in that crash.

Mexican lawmaker Arturo Zamora said Friday such crashes are a result of lax enforcement that allows double trailers to exceed standards regulating weight loads.

"The issue of trucks with double boxes is a problem in Mexico, a country that registers 900 deaths each year due to accidents by these trucks," Zamora said.