Guatemala Breaks Guinness World Record

How many people can you fit inside a bus?

The chicken bus Guinness World Record of how many people you can fit in a bus was broken today at Jocotenango, Sacatepéquez, Guatemala with 221 people inside the chicken bus, two chickens and lots of Gallos (beer). The previous record of 209 people was held by Poland.

The activity was organized by the Municipality of Jocotenango, a community just outside Antigua Guatemala. The very young mayor of Jocotenango declared to be very happy because Guatemala had obtained its first Guinness World Record and because it was his humble town of Jocotenango who broke the previous record of the most people inside a bus. The first activity was to fill the chicken bus with as many children as possible; 100 showed up and each kid was given a participation diploma. Later, the adults entered the bus until there was no room to walk in, then, some people decided to enter the bus through the windows since there was still space inside the bus because some people had climbed to luggage racks inside the bus. At this point the previous Guatemalan record of 180 people were passed as the counting showed 190 people were inside the bus. This was not good enough for the world record of 209 people. A second try was organized, but this time in a orderly manner 10 by 10 people entered the chicken bus making sure to leave no free space available. After 210 people were inside everybody became excited because the previous record had been broken, but there was still space for another 11 people.

El joven alcalde de Jocotenango, Sacatepéquez declaró estar muy contento de que Guatemala tuviera su primera marca Guinness y que fuera el pueblo de Jocotenango el que haya roto el récord de más gente en un autobús. Primero subieron los niños quienes llegaron hasta la cifra de 100 dentro de la camioneta; cada niño recibió un diploma de participación a la salida de la camioneta. Luego subieron las personas adultas, poco a poco, hasta que ya no se podía ingresar al bus. Fue entonces que algunos empezaron a subir por las ventas y otros a acomodarse en las parrillas interiores del equipaje para hacer más espacio. Aún así sólo cupieron 190 personas, que era suficiente para romper la marca de 180 personas que existe en Guatemala, pero no la marca mundial de 209 que posía Polonia. En el segundo conteo, ingresaron de 10 en 10 hasta llegar a 210 personas dentro del autobús con lo que se rompió el récord Guinness, pero aún había espacio por lo que ingresaron otras 11 personas y así se llego a la cifra de 221 personas dentro de la camioneta «chicken bus». El alcalde manifestó sentirse satisfecho del logro alcanzado por el pueblo de Jocotenango y por todos aquellos que participaron en el evento. También ofreció que las puertas de Jocotenango estaban abiertas para todos los extranjeros.

Here’s a slide show which gives you a general idea of the breaking of the previous Guinness Record.

Of course this page would not be complete without a contribution from my dear friend Nelo Mijangos who has prepared a time lapse video of the loading and unloading of the chicken bus. Enjoy!

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