Survivor of the tragedy with 41 dead and lost mother: ‘The worst scene of my life’ | Itapetininga and Region

The collision occurred at km 172 of Rodovia Alfredo de Oliveira Carvalho, in Taguaí (SP). The bus, which was not authorized to circulate by Artesp and had irregular documents, was carrying workers from a textile company.

“I just woke up and everything was over. Then I looked ahead, my husband was depressed, he protected me. I know this because the girls who survived who stood in front of me and said that he gave his life for me. It was the worst scene of my life to date, and it took the life of my husband, my mother, ”says seamstress Sônia Lobo Pacheco.

Elian Marcos was also one of the survivors and said that most of the bus passengers did not have seat belts and were sleeping at the time of the accident.

“I think that only the driver was wearing the seat belt and 90%, 95% of the passengers were asleep,” reports Elian, from Itaí (SP), who only had abrasions caused by the accident.

“I remember everything. I remember that before I got to this place, about 1.5 km away, I was sleeping on the bus. I woke up and it was a curve that I couldn’t see well. I saw that there was a bus and a very slow up front. I don’t know if the brakes failed, but he got too close to the slow truck and the driver took the bus. That’s where the trailer came from on the opposite track. ”

• Bus and truck collision in Taguaí (SP)
• The accident happened around 7 a.m. on Wednesday
• The bus carried about 50 workers from a textile company.
• The collision occurred at km 172 of Rodovia Alfredo de Oliveira Carvalho
• The Star Viagem e Turismo bus company was not authorized to operate, according to information from the São Paulo State Transportation Agency (Artesp)

After the accident, the bitrem-type truck (larger), which was transporting manure, invaded a rural property. The driver of the vehicle was even taken to the Fartura emergency room, but died in the unit.

TO G1, the trucker’s partner reported that he did not have a license to drive a truck, he only had a provisional license for one car and therefore he was taking another truck driver on his trips.

Several victims were thrown to the track with the force of the crash, according to the Fire Department.

“Some victims were projected out of the bus, some were inside the vehicle and others were stuck in the hardware and in the bus seats as well, which made it difficult to withdraw. But we were careful that there was no more damage to the bodies, ”said the Lieutenant of the Fire Department, Carlos Alexandre Prandini.

As of Thursday morning (26), 41 deaths have been confirmed and four people remain hospitalized.

Most of the victims were watched in gyms in Itaí, and the Taguaí and Itaí prefectures declared an official mourning for three days.

“With the collision, a part of the body of the truck came off, it went to the side of the bus. It caused severe damage to the side of the bus and, sadly, caused the death of many people. says Daniel Aparecido Demétrio, captain of the Military Police.

According to Lieutenant Alexandre Guedes, PM spokesman, it was the biggest accident of the year on the roads of the state of São Paulo.

Simple and free track

The Alfredo de Oliveira Carvalho Highway is a single lane and has no tolls. According to the Itapeva Military Highway Police, accidents in that place are not common.

The track had to be closed to deal with the incident.

TO TEM TVLawyer Emerson Rodrigues, head of the legal sector at Stattus Jeans, a textile company where passengers who got on the bus worked, said the vehicle company was hired by employees who receive transportation vouchers. He did not comment on the safety conditions of the vehicle.

When the accident occurred, the bus with workers had left Itaí, passed through Taquarituba and was heading to the textile company in Taguaí.

The bus company is clandestine

Star Viagem e Turismo was not authorized to operate, according to information from the São Paulo State Transportation Agency (Artesp). OR G1 It discovered that the bus company had already been fined several times and the inspection agency deemed it illegal.

Neither on the Artesp website nor on the website of the National Land Transport Agency (ANTT) are there records of Star Chartering and Leasing Eirelli EPP, created in 2016 and based in Taquarituba, according to data from the State Commercial Board.

The vehicle involved in the crash, with license plate DJC 8811, accumulates 11 fines – 2 municipal, 1 from the DMV and 8 from the DER. In addition, it had a delayed IPVA, licensing and DPVAT, that is, it could not be in circulation. There are more than R $ 5,000 in debt.

According to Artesp, “the company has no registration for the transport of passengers and has been operating illegally since October 11, 2019.”

Milton Persoli, director of the São Paulo State Transportation Agency (Artesp), rules out that there was an omission or lack of inspection by the agency.

“Artesp carried out, in 2020 alone, 8 thousand inspection actions, with 5,400 fines. We conduct an average of 250 inspections daily, Monday through Monday. There is no omission, what exists is an irresponsibility of the company. It was evaluated four times in 2020 and had its vehicles held twice. What happens is an irresponsibility of the owner of the company to continue exercising this activity ”.

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