A city councilor from Cusco, Quechua speakers, was killed in an accident in the central state of Chuquisaca on Monday.
On Sunday, a sport utility vehicle crashed into a bus carrying Quechua-speaking workers. According to the Associated Press, eight people on the bus were killed and 40 were hospitalized.
Local officials said the SUV and the bus were heading to the northern city of Tapachula to drop off supplies.
The driver of the SUV was detained.
Chuquisaca is known for Quechua, one of the most ancient languages in Latin America, but has suffered decline in recent years. Like many other Central American nations, the first migrants arriving in Mexico from the region after war broke out in Peru in the 1960s came to seek jobs. Quechua speakers have mostly come to work in mines, but that has also diminished.
In the United States, many Quechua speakers, who are known as gauchos, work in construction, in the food industry, or in restaurants.
This is the second major accident involving bus companies in just a few weeks. In mid-February, the Pennsylvania Turnpike posted a list of U.S. locations where they’re taking bus drivers for background checks.