A graduation celebration turned into horror in northern Colombia early Sunday when a bus carrying students and adults veered off a cliff, killing at least 16 people and injuring 20 others.
The vehicle, carrying students from Liceo Antioqueño High School, was returning from a coastal trip in the Caribbean town of Tolu to Medellín when it plunged roughly 260 feet down a ravine in the remote mountain region of El Chispero, between the towns of Remedios and Zaragoza.
“It’s a devastating tragedy,” Antioquia Governor Andrés Julián Rendón wrote on X. “More than a dozen people are confirmed dead and 20 injured. The entire hospital network has been activated to respond and support the victims and their families.”
The bus was transporting about 45 passengers—mostly students from the graduating class of 2025—when it went off the winding highway around 5:40 a.m., local media outlet El Colombiano reported.
Witnesses described hearing “a deafening crash” as the vehicle rolled multiple times down the cliffside before coming to rest near a riverbed. Photos shared on social media show twisted metal and school bags scattered across the debris.
Local officials said early indications point to brake failure, though investigators have not ruled out other mechanical issues or driver fatigue.
Among those killed was the driver, identified as 42-year-old Johnatan Taborda Cocacolo, who worked for the tourist transport company Precultur. “He was one of the safest and most responsible drivers we had,” a colleague from the Antioquia tourism network told Caracol Radio. “Everyone in the industry is in mourning today.”
Paramedics rushed to the scene within an hour, but rescuers faced steep, muddy terrain that made recovery efforts difficult. Helicopters later evacuated the most severely injured to hospitals in the nearby towns of Remedios and Segovia.
Mayor Edwin Castañeda of Segovia confirmed that 16 of the wounded—twelve teenagers and four adults—were being treated at San Vicente de Paúl Hospital in Remedios.
“It was chaos,” said nurse Marta Londoño, who assisted in the emergency response. “Some of the kids were calling out for their friends who didn’t make it. Others were too shocked to speak.”
Liceo Antioqueño High School posted a message of grief on its official social media accounts Sunday night, clarifying that the trip “was not an official school activity” but rather “a private celebration organized by students.”
“We deeply regret what happened to our students and their families,” the statement read. “We embrace the graduating class of 2025 in this moment of great sorrow.”
The school changed its profile picture to a black ribbon symbolizing mourning for the victims.
The National Road Safety Agency issued a statement saying it “deeply regrets the road accident that occurred on the Segovia-Antioquia highway.” The agency urged all drivers to “act with conscious and responsible behavior” and to avoid “risky maneuvers on mountain roads known for sharp turns and steep cliffs.”
Deadly crashes are tragically common on Colombia’s rural highways, where poor maintenance, fog, and narrow lanes make travel dangerous. According to the Ministry of Transportation, more than 7,000 people died in road accidents across the country last year alone.
“This should be a wake-up call,” transportation safety advocate José María Gutiérrez told local TV. “We keep losing young lives to preventable tragedies. Until we fix our roads and enforce rest hours for drivers, these disasters will continue.”
As authorities work to identify all the victims, grief is spreading across Antioquia. Vigils have already begun in Medellín, where classmates are lighting candles and placing flowers outside the school gates.
“This was supposed to be a trip to celebrate the future,” said one tearful parent outside the school Monday morning. “Instead, it became the worst day of our lives.”
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