An excursion that is transformed into tragedy, overthrow the bus with students, 10 dead

An ordinary student excursion, a trip for educational and accompanying goals, ended up in the tragedy on Saturday in Colombia, when the bus carrying 26 passengers collided, causing the death of at least 10 people and the wounding of 11 others. What was supposed to be a day of knowledge, friendship and inspiration turned into a mourning chapter for Humboldt University and for all of us who believe in the strength of youth and education.

According to the authorities, the driver lost control of the vehicle traveling from Tolima to Quindio, and tragically, some passengers were thrown out of the bus when he hit an obstacle on the bridge. At least ten lives were extinguished there, among them students, professors and members of the university staff – new minds, voices who were probably dreaming of a better world, people belonging to Light.

Humboldt University in the city of Armenia has announced two days of mourning, a gesture that more than institutional form, is a profound humiliation of pain that words cannot describe. « The painful loss of some colleagues, students, professors and administrators » – said Rector Diego Fernando Jaramillo López. But they are more than that – were hopes, they were part of a community that dreamed, developed and lived with ideals.

There were 22 students on the bus, two professors and a communication officer – a beautiful mix of generations and roles that give life to a university, and today remind us that every trip can be more fragile than we imagine.

Colombia often faces the bitter reality of road accidents, which are among the leading causes of death in the country, with a tragic average of 22 lives lost every day in 2024. But when victims are members of a university – young people who carry the hope of a country, teachers who plant it – the pain is even deeper, even more collective.