29 people have died after a “speeding” bus crashed into a rock before plunging down a 656ft ravine, authorities in Peru said.
The bus carrying 63 passengers fell near the town of Matucana in the Peruvian Andes.
So far 29 people have been confirmed dead with a further 24 injured in the crash at around 4am on Tuesday, August 31, reports El Comercio.
The bus was travelling to the Peruvian capital Lima when it is understood the vehicle smashed into a rock before the driver lost control.
Clinton Presentation Bacilio, a 24-year-old young man who survived the accident, told El Comercio that after an initial collision, the bus continued its journey several meters before falling.
He said: “I remember that the bus crashed and kept moving. Me and my partner decided to hold on to the seat in case something suddenly turns around because something happens, at that moment the bus leans down.
“We got away from the seat, we walked around and the bus came sliding.”
Clinton’s partner, Luz Merlina Tineo, was one of the passengers taken to hospital after the horrific incident.
There are unconfirmed reports that those on board were asking the driver to slow down before the crash.
El Comercio reported that according to the Superintendency of Land Transportation of People, Cargo and Merchandise the last transmission of the GPS system of the bus indicated that it was moving at excessive speed.
It also suggested that this was not the first time that the vehicle was caught for speeding after an offence in May.
The accident is the second involving a bus plunging from a road in Peru in a matter of days, after a bus carrying mining workers in a different part of the Andes also fell off a cliff and killed 16 on Friday, August 27.