Two killed on Lara-Trujillo Pan-American Highway as La Pastora’s road-safety warnings intensify

A head-on collision on Venezuela’s Lara-Trujillo Pan-American Highway killed two people on Sunday, just 48 hours before asphalt work was scheduled to begin.

The victims were identified as José Manuel Medina, 34, and Yeivannys Karina Escalona, 29. Preliminary accounts gathered at the scene say the vehicle’s driver tried to avoid an obstacle in the pavement, lost control and struck a passenger bus traveling in the opposite lane.

The crash came after a tanker truck overturned on the same road on Saturday. That incident caused material damage and was also linked to irregularities in the asphalt. Residents of La Pastora have maintained a permanent vigil, saying delays in paving and the deteriorated stretch continue to threaten drivers using the route between Lara and Trujillo.

The Lara state government and Torres municipality had announced the deployment of heavy machinery after local residents halted traffic on Aug. 27. Officials from the National Bolivarian Police’s Land Transit Service began field investigations and technical inspections to formally determine responsibility for the crash.