'"Death Road" claims 2nd foreign cyclist of week'

"SUV collides with cyclists on Bolivian highway; accident leaves 9 dead"

A friend of mine is from Bolivia, so I know about this infamous road (a "highway" in only the most literal sense of the word). It was replaced last year with a new, safer road that follows another route, but tourists -- bikers mostly -- still travel the old road for thrills. Story here.

LA PAZ, Bolivia - A packed SUV collided with a group of cyclists on Bolivia's "Highway of Death" on Thursday, killing nine people — including a British man who was the second foreign tourist to die this week along the notorious road.

The accident took place just minutes after the cyclists began their tour on a paved section near a 15,400-foot Andean pass, said Lt. Col. Agusto Angulo, head of the La Paz transit police accident division.

A Toyota Land Cruiser carrying a driver and 12 passengers struck the group, killing 22-year-old Tom Austin, Angulo said.

The vehicle then left the road and rolled 300 feet down a rocky embankment, killing eight people inside, Erbol radio reported.

British cyclists Daniel Roberts, 23, and James Marshall, 22, and five passengers in the SUV were injured, Erbol said. The British Embassy later confirmed the riders' identities but did not disclose more information. . . .