12 dead in Mexico highway accident

Mexico City, Jan 30 (IANS) At least 12 people were killed and 11 injured when a passenger van crashed on a highway in the Mexican state of Jalisco, authorities said.

The Jalisco Civil Protection and Fire Department said on Twitter that the vehicle overturned at the Leon-Aguascalientes highway in the municipality of Lagos de Moreno on Saturday, reports Xinhua news agency.

Neftali Guillen, regional commander of the state civil protection department, said eight men and four women were killed in the accident, and two of them were minors.

In a video released by the department, Guillen said that the accident had not caused the closure of any sections of the highway but he recommended extreme caution when driving through the area until the investigation into the accident is complete.

Jalisco registered 1,015 deaths due to traffic accidents last year, and it ranks third in Mexico for traffic fatalities.