VERACRUZ, Mexico— A passenger bus slammed into a broken-down truck and burst into flames, killing at least 36 people Sunday in southern Mexico, the Veracruz state government reported.

Both state and federal officials said that four people survived the crash, which occurred shortly after midnight in the southeastern state of Veracruz.

Additional Photos

Caution tape creates a perimeter around a passenger bus that slammed into a broken-down truck and burst into flames near the town of Ciudad Isla in the Gulf state of Veracruz, Mexico, on Sunday.
Caution tape creates a perimeter around a passenger bus that slammed into a broken-down truck and burst into flames near the town of Ciudad Isla in the Gulf state of Veracruz, Mexico, on Sunday. The Associated Press

A communique from the state civil defense agency said the victims were business people from the region who were traveling from the Tabasco state capital of Villahermosa to Mexico City.

The agency’s emergency director, Ricardo Maza Limon, said that victims apparently burned to death inside the bus, which was so badly charred that the tires melted and the markings on its sides were unreadable.

The federal highway department, which earlier gave the death toll as 34, said the three-axle bus was on a highway in the area of Acayucan when it struck a five-axle tractor-trailer owned by a milk protein company that had broken down and was parked along the roadside.

Via Twitter, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto sent a message of condolences to the families of those who died.

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