1 Canadian dead, 3 injured in bus crash in Mexico

One Canadian is dead and three others are injured after a bus crashed in Mexico, Global Affairs Canada confirmed on Wednesday.

The Canadian, who was among 12 people killed, has been identified by her family as Stephanie Horwood of Gatineau, Que.

Carole Pommet Reinthaler tells The Canadian Press that her daughter-in-law was in Mexico with her husband and their two daughters aged nine and 11.

All three were injured.

Pommet Reinthaler says there will be two funeral services – one in Horwood’s native St. John’s, N.L., and the other in Gatineau.

Horwood would have turned 42 next week.

“Our thoughts and deepest sympathies are with those affected by the bus crash in Mexico. We have been informed by Mexican authorities that one Canadian citizen was killed as a result of this accident, and three others injured,” spokesperson Philip Hannan said in a statement.

“Consular officials in Ottawa and in Playa del Carmen, Mexico are in contact with affected Canadian citizens as well as family members and are providing consular assistance as required.”

Hannan said, due to privacy considerations, no further details will be released at this time.

Authorities in Mexico say there were 31 people on the bus. The bus was carrying cruise ship passengers to Mayan ruins when it flipped over on a highway.

Quintana Roo state Civil Defence spokesman Vicente Martin says seven Americans and two Swedes were among the injured, but says authorities hadn’t yet established the nationalities of the dead.

ABC News originally reported that four Canadians had been killed in the crash.

Miami-based Royal Caribbean Cruises says in a statement that passengers from two of its ships, the Celebrity Equinox and Serenade of the Seas, were involved.

Video images from the scene show the bus on its side in vegetation off the two-lane highway, with some survivors lying on the pavement and others walking around.

Public Security of Quintana Roo state said in a statement that emergency responders took the injured to hospitals in Bacalar, Chetumal and Tulum.

The agency says Mexican officials have been in contact with consular offices to assist families of the victims and injured, including citizens of the U.S., Sweden and Brazil.

With files from The Associated Press

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