国际英语新闻:Mexico road accident death toll rises to 36

MEXICO CITY, April 13 (Xinhua) -- The death toll for Sunday's road accident in Mexico's eastern state of Veracruz has risen to 36, local civil protection authorities said.

The accident occurred early Sunday morning when a passenger bus crashed against a trailer in a section of the road between Isla and Cosoleacaque, in Veracruz state.

According to the latest report of Veracruz's Civil Protection Secretariat, three more bodies were recovered by the emergency units in the last hours, so death toll rose from 33 to 36.

Mexico's President Enrique Pena Nieto expressed his regret over the accident in a Twitter message. "I wish to send my heartfelt condolences to the families of the people who died in the road accident in Veracruz," he said.

According to the president, members of the Federal Police are supporting the Veracruz state's Civil Protection authorities in handling the emergency.

Miguel Angel Osorio Chong, Mexico's Interior Minister, also expressed his condolences to the victims' relatives in his Twitter account.

At a press conference Sunday, Javier Duarte, governor of Veracruz, said the accident occurred at 4 a.m. local time (10 am GMT) near Juan Rodriguez Clara municipality.

"What happened is that the passenger bus, which departed from Villahermosa city (in the southeastern state of Tabasco) was traveling to Mexico City and the accident occurred near Cosoleacaque," said Duarte.

Preliminary investigations indicated that the passenger bus crashed into the rear of the trailer, which was parked in the road 's beltway without any signal and caught fire afterward.

"The people and government of Veracruz are providing all the facilities and medical attention to the four injured people," Duarte added.

The injured have been taken to a hospital in Acayucan municipality.