12th anniversary of Panama bus inferno

Twelve years after Panama ’s most horrific transit tragedy when 18 people including children were incinerated in a flaming bus in La Cresta in front of the  Hosanna temple relatives and survivors are still seeking justice and compensation.

On Tuesday, October  23 a memorial  Mass was held at the Don Bosco Basilica and afterward, relatives and survivors went to La Cresta, to paint  18 blue hearts on the road  in memory of the 13 women 3 men and  2 children  who died in the inferno

The bus was from the North Corridor-Mano de Piedra route and when it caught fire the emergency door wouldn’t open and there were no fire extinguishers.

Passengers fought to escape through windows and 24 were injured including two with severe burns needing multiple surgeries and skin grafts in Panama and the USA.

The event was mainly due to a mechanical breakdown and the use of a coolant banned in the US  The brothers who owned the received 40-month jail terms. Victims were denied compensation by Panama courts

It marked the beginning of the end of Panama’s ailing competition-driven system utilizing outdated and poorly serviced former US school buses,  known as “diablos rojos”  (red devils,)  racing each other for passengers. and exacting pedestrian carnage.

The Torrijos administration introduced a transportation act and initiated the Metro bus system  using modern buses equipped with escape tools