MANAGUA, Nicaragua – The mayor of the northwestern Nicaraguan city of Posoltega has died in a traffic accident, the National Police and emergency officials said yesterday.

Carlos Alonso Tercero died Saturday night when the vehicle he was driving went off the road and into a ravine more than 15 meters deep, police in the town of Telica said.

Telica police investigator Marcos García told reporters that the mayor was driving west and, after crossing a bridge, he lost control of his vehicle.

The 54-year-old mayor was taken to León's Oscar Danilo Rosales Training Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, García said.

Tercero, of the ruling National Sandinista Liberation Front (FSLN) party, became Posoltega's mayor in January 2005.

He was driving from Telica to León, 90 kilometers northwest of Managua.

According to a fire department report on the crash, the mayor suffered severe head injuries.