Truck driver, 22, who died when he collided with a bus - killing 40 textile workers and injuring 14 - did not have a license and had to be accompanied by another motorist to operate in Brazil
A 22-year-old man was not licensed to drive the truck that was involved in a highway collision with a bus that left 41 people dead in Brazil.
Authorities learned that Geison Gonçalves did not have a class D license that is required to operate such a truck in the South American nation.
Brazilian news outlet G1 reported that Gonçalves only had a provisional driver's license and that he was always accompanied by a licensed truck driver, who was injured in the Wednesday morning tragic accident in the São Paulo city of TaguaÃ.
Investigators were still working Thursday to determine the cause of the crash between the truck and a bus with 53 people, including its driver.
Authorities say Geison Gonçalves did not have a class D license that is required to operate trucks in Brazil. The 22-year-old's vehicle was involved in an accident with a bus Wednesday in São Paulo that left a total 41 people dead, including himself
Pictured above is the wrecked truck involved in Wednesday morning's tragic collision with a bus carrying 51 workers, including 41 who have been reported dead, in TaguaÃ, Brazil
Residents stand next to a wrecked bus that was transporting 51 workers, including 41 who were killed, following a collision with a truck on a highway in São Paulo, Brazil, on Wednesday
According to G1, Star Turismo, the owner of the wrecked bus, did not register the vehicle with the National Land Transport Agency. Star Turismo does have one coach listed in the agency's registry.
The bus company had been reportedly fined 11 times by the São Paulo State Transport Agency.
The most recent fines took place in March 3 and 5 when the company was ticketed for illegally transporting passengers.
On November 25, 2019, the bus received two summons for defective signal lighting and because it was not in a safe condition.
Area residents from TaguaÃ, Brazil, stand near a truck that was involved in an accident early Wednesday with a bus transporting 51 workers to a textile factory. At least 41 of the employees died and another 10 were injured and rushed to local hospitals
Bystanders look on at the wreckage of an accident that involved a truck and bus on a highway in São Paulo, Brazil, on Wednesday morning that left 41 people dead
'All documentation relating to the vehicle involved in the tragic accident is in compliance with government agencies and in perfect validity,' Star Turismo said in a press release.
Preliminary police reports indicate the coach was transporting as many as 52 employees from a textile company when the vehicles collided on the single lane of the 106-mile marker of the Alfredo de Oliveira Carvalho highway in TaguaÃ.
Video and still images of the scene showed dozens of victims lying on the ground next to the bus as residents looked on.
São Paulo Military spokesman Lieutenant Alexandre Guedes said some of the passengers where initially stuck inside the bus.
Most of the injured passengers were rushed to medical facilities in the cities of TaguaÃ, Fartura, Taquarituba.
The Taguaà fire department said the bus was heading to the Stattus Jeans factory when it collided with the truck on the highway which connects the cities of Taguaà and Taquarituba.
Emerson Fernandes, an attorney for Stattus Jeans, told online portal UOL that most of the victims lived in the municipality of ItaÃ.