Email
An Australian was among 10 people killed in Bolivia when a bus returning to La Paz from the Salar de Uyuni salt flats ran off the highway and crashed, police said.
Police Captain Gonzalo Carrasco said eight of the dead were foreigners. Another 24 people, most of them foreigners, including one Australian, were injured and being treated in hospitals in Oruro, the closest big city.
The Australian killed was named as Canberran Kurt Steel, who worked as a media adviser for ACT treasurer Andrew Barr.
In a statement, Steel’s family said: “We would like to thank everyone for their messages of support.
“Our thoughts are also with other families with relatives involved. We love you Kurt and we’ll miss you forever. You were so happy and full of life every moment we spent with you.”
The shadow minister for justice, David Feeney, tweeted: “Thoughts & prayers for family & friends of Kurt Steel, who passed away in bus crash in Bolivia while on holidays”.
Carrasco said the accident occurred on Saturday about 180 miles (290 kilometers) south of the capital. He said the foreigners included an Australian, two Swiss, two Italians and a Peruvian. Two of the foreigners could not immediately be identified.
The Bolivian victims included the bus driver.
Bolivian news media identified the Australian injured in the crash as a 27-year-old woman.
Carrasco said the injured included Germans, Italians, Swiss, Canadians, Chileans, Peruvians and an Indian.
He said the cause of the accident was under investigation.
;