Truck Smashes into Bus in Argentina Killing 18

At least 18 people were killed on an Argentine highway Friday when a truck driving on the wrong side of the road crashed head-on into a bus, local authorities said.

Both vehicles immediately burst into flames, leaving twisted metal remains, television images showed. Firefighters were still working on retrieving the charred bodies for identification.

The collision, which early reports indicated left 15 people wounded, occurred in western Mendoza province, on a highway that links Buenos Aires with Santiago in neighboring Chile.

"The bus was hit head-on by a truck with apparently stolen plates of Brazilian origin," Mendoza's health minister, Matias Roby, told a local news channel, calling the incident "heartbreaking."

There were 32 people on the bus, he told the station, including two drivers who were both killed.