Twelve Dead After Bus Carrying Mainly American Cruise Passengers Crashes in Mexico

Eleven cruise ship passengers and their tour guide are dead after their tour bus flipped over on a narrow highway in Mexico Tuesday.

The nationalities of the dead have not yet been released but several Americans and two Swedes were among those injured, the Associated Press reported. The total injured was about 18 people, according to a statement released by the Quintana Roo state prosecutor’s office.

The prosecutor’s office said a child and a Mexican tour guide were among the dead.

The AP reported the bus was en route to the ruins at Chacchoben, which is about 110 miles south of Tulum, a popular tourist destination.

Among the dead appear to be a South Florida grandmother while her 11-year-old grandson and other family members remain unaccounted for, their family told the AP.

Fanta Shamis, 78, was killed in the crash, according to her grandson, Benjamin Shababo, 18, who also said his young cousin may have died.

He told the wire outlet that his uncle, Moises Behar is in the hospital and that family members aren’t sure where his aunt, Anna Behar, and another cousin, 15, are.

“We don’t have really concrete information,” Shababo said. “We’re all scared. It’s just really scary to process this in my head that possible something really bad happened to them.”

The cause of the accident is being investigated.

The tourists were headed out on an excursion of the Mayan ruins in southeastern Mexico when their bus ended up on its side along a two-lane road shortly after 9 a.m., the Washington Post reported.

The majority of the passengers arrived in Mexico on two ships belonging to Royal Caribbean Cruises: the Celebrity Equinox and the Serenade of the Seas, according to the Post.

In a statement obtained by the outlet, the company said, “Our hearts go out to all those involved in the bus accident in Costa Maya. We are doing all we can to care for our guests, including assisting with medical care and transportation.”