UPDATED: SFA students, faculty members injured in Peru bus accident

Eleven SFA students who were injured in a bus crash during a study-abroad excursion in Peru have returned to the United States, and four remaining students will arrive back in Texas Thursday.

Fifteen students and two faculty members were passengers on a bus that left the roadway and crashed into a ravine on Saturday en route to Peru's Sacred Valley. They were taken to a hospital in Cusco, where they were examined by physicians. Several of the travelers sustained broken bones because of the accident.

Drs. Jose Recinos and Gabriella Miranda-Recinos are associate professors in SFA's Department of Languages, Cultures and Communication. Another SFA faculty member from the department traveled to Peru on Sunday to assist the students.

The CIS Abroad program arranged the travel, and their representatives responded to the accident immediately, assisting students as they were admitted into the clinic and remaining onsite.

"The SFA students had been studying at Universidad San Ignacio de Loyola in Cusco, and representatives of the institution's international programs office also played an important role in ensuring that the students had access to appropriate services," said Heather Catton, director of SFA International Programs.