Bolivia’s Death Road: Semi Teeters on the Side of a Cliff
Bolivia’s famous Yungas Road or “Death Road” as it is often called, is a treacherous road that stretches almost 40 miles. Death Road is only about 10 feet wide, has no guardrails, and dust, wind, fog and rain cause reduced visibility. There are extreme dropoffs of at least 1,830 feet. The road was modernized over a twenty year span to bypass some of the most dangerous stretches and help make it more safe for passage.
- Death Road is estimated to claim the lives of between 200-300 travelers EACH YEAR.
- Death Road has also claimed the lives of 18 cyclists since 1998.
- On 24 July 1983, a bus veered off the Yungas Road and into a canyon, killing more than 100 passengers in what is said to be Bolivia’s worst road accident.
In this clip, a number of men try to keep a semi from falling down the steep cliff as it teeters on the edge. Tragically, the driver of the truck was killed in this accident.
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