Conrad Tulum Staff Bus Crash on Highway 307 Injures Nearly 20 Workers; Car Driver Flees

Tulum, Quintana Roo — Nearly 20 employees of the Conrad Tulum hotel were injured Tuesday night when the staff bus they were riding in collided with a car and overturned along Federal Highway 307, authorities said. Two workers were hospitalized in serious condition.

The crash occurred at about 7:30 p.m. at kilometer 7 of the Tulum–Felipe Carrillo Puerto stretch of the highway, according to early reports. The bus and a gray Chevrolet Malibu were traveling in opposite directions when the car’s driver allegedly crossed into the oncoming lane.

The impact caused the bus driver to lose control. The vehicle left the roadway and came to rest on its left side in the vegetation beside the highway. Some workers smashed the front windshield so their colleagues could climb out.

Car driver abandons vehicle and flees

According to accounts gathered at the scene, the driver of the Malibu left the car before emergency crews arrived. Empty beer cans were found inside the vehicle, although officials have not confirmed that the driver was intoxicated. Neither the driver’s identity nor their whereabouts have been released.

Emergency response and injuries

• Red Cross paramedics treated about 20 workers for bruises and other injuries.
• The two passengers in serious condition were taken to the General Hospital in Felipe Carrillo Puerto.
• National Guard officers, firefighters, municipal traffic police, civil protection personnel and volunteers from the national emergencies commission responded to the scene.
• Both vehicles were removed by tow trucks and taken to a federal impound lot.

Second hotel staff bus crash on the same stretch

It is not the first accident involving a hotel staff bus on Highway 307 in recent weeks. On Oct. 7, a bus carrying about 35 passengers overturned near the entrance to Tulum International Airport, killing three people and injuring several others.