Three-vehicle collision kills 15 in NW Peru

A three-vehicle collision in the northwest Peruvian region of La Libertad on Thursday killed at least 15 people and injured another nine, local media reported.

Most of the fatal victims were burnt after at least one of the vehicles, a passenger minibus, caught fire.

Peruvian Highway Police said the incident also involved a trailer truck apparently transporting school supplies and a motorcycle.

The impact of the collision tossed bodies onto the highway, a regional police chief, Lorenzo Granados, told the Radio Programas del Peru (RPP) news network.

"Inside the minibus are burnt cadavers and there are also cadavers on the roadway," said Granados.

Video footage on RPP showed smoke billowing from the wreckage of the vehicles strewn along the side of the highway, and tossed piles of books and papers on the ground.

The injured were taken to a nearby hospital.

(APD)