AN IRISHMAN TAKING part in a charity adventure in Peru has died following a road crash in the Andes.
Peter Buckley from Wexford was participating in a Mototaxi Junket organised by a group called The Adventurists when the accident occurred on Saturday.
His two-man team was travelling in a rickshaw between the city of Cuzco and Piura as part of the charity trek which began on New Year’s Day.
The men’s vehicle came off a muddy road in the Mayocc province and plunged into a 500 foot abyss, Peruvian police said.
The 25-year-old died as a result of the injuries he suffered in the crash. The second man is receiving medical attention but is said to be in a stable condition.
The Department of Foreign Affairs has informed the Buckley family and is providing them with consular assistance.
According to The Adventurists website, Buckley was participating in the race with fellow Irishman Eamonn O’Leary. The team, which went by the name of the Soggy Bottom Boys, had raised over €4,700 for Practical Action and Cancer Research UK ahead of the adventure.
The organisers of the event said its “sympathies and thoughts are with the family and friends of the deceased at this incredibly difficult time”.
The Mototaxi Junket is a risky race described by The Adventurists as a “two week glorious mayhemic adventure across Peru on a three-wheeled mototaxi”.
A mototaxi is a type of rickshaw fitted with a 125cc engine, often known as a sofa-bike. The company said this is the first death that has occurred in seven expeditions.
Ten other Irishmen entered the January race which covers more than 2,000km of mountainous and dangerous terrain.
-Additional reporting by AP
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