An overcrowded bus speeding home from a religious festival veered off a highway emergency ramp and crashed through a metal barrier, plunging more than 650 feet into a ravine. Fifty-seven people were killed, including a 13-year-old boy. Just three people survived Monday's plunge from the highway, considered one of the 15 most dangerous in Mexico. Two were in critical condition and one, an 8-year-old girl, was stable, according to Sanatorio Escudero, the hospital in Orizaba where the injured were taken. Ranulfo Marquez, deputy director of civil protection for Veracruz state was quoted as saying by the Associated Press that the girl was conscious but had suffered multiple fractures. The bus, equipped to hold 46 passengers, was carrying 60, some of whom were standing. Federal Preventive Police Cmdr. Reinaldo Ascencio Cavazos said the owner of the bus was detained for questioning.
