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| In Mexico today, eight protesting schoolteachers were killed by a runaway tar truck. |
Jun 13, 3:13 PM EDT
TRUCK SLAMS INTO MEXICO TEACHERS' PROTEST, 7 DEADMORELIA, Mexico (AP) — Authorities in western Mexico say a tanker truck carrying tar has slammed into a highway toll booth that had temporarily been taken over by protesting teachers. They say seven people are dead and another 14 injured.
The lethal tar truck
Most of the dead and injured are believed to be teachers who have been holding a series of protests in the western state of Michoacan.
State prosecutors' spokesman Alejandro Arellano said the accident occurred Thursday on a highway west of the state capital city of Morelia.
The teachers are protesting educational reforms that would reduce union power in hiring decisions and establish teacher evaluations.
Protesters in Mexico often seize highway toll booths, and sometimes demand drivers pay a small sum to drive through without paying a toll.My commenter adds, translating from a local report:
The toll booth was located downhill (for some unknown reason, they seem to do that a lot in MX). The runaway truck ramp placed just before the toll booth was blocked by vehicles left by ... the protesting teachers killed in the accident!(Sounds kind of like the fatal runaway truck crash by Marcos Costa in La Canada in 2009 that smashed up a bookstore near my son's school.)
Why does the Gang of Eight want to make America more like Mexico?
