HAVANA, April 26 (Héctor Maseda, Grupo de Trabajo Decoro) - An open
truck on which about 80 youths, aged between 15 and 18, were riding overturned
April 17 near Bahía Honda, west of Havana. Seven boys were reported to
have been seriously injured. Most of the others suffered some injuries, either
from the accident or from cuts caused by the machetes they were all carrying.
The boys, recruits of the Youth Workers Army, were on their way to cut sugar
cane. They had been ordered by their supervisors to crowd into the open truck,
which according to reports, had been modified with stakes to carry no more than
40 people.
Reportedly, when the driver tried to pass a horse-drawn cart, the passengers
were thrown to one side and the weight shift caused the vehicle to overturn. The
report also states the truck was traveling at "moderate speed" at the
time.
Passersby helped the victims, many of whom were taken to the Bahía
Honda polyclinic. The most seriously injured and about 30 others were taken to
the "Comandante Pinares" hospital en San Cristóbal by various
means, as there were not enough ambulances.
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