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It marked the beginning of the end of Panama’s ailing competition-driven system utilizing outdated and poorly serviced former US school buses, known as “diablos rojos” (red devils,) racing each other for passengers.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