At least 21 dead in Peru after bus falls into ravine

A bus plummeted into a ravine in southern Peru Tuesday, killing at least 21 people and wounding another 20, said police in the Andean country plagued by deadly road accidents.

The bus with more than 40 occupants was headed from Lima to the Andean region of Ayacucho when it veered off a cliff about 200 meters (656 feet) high in the early morning hours, highway safety division director Jhonny Valderrama said on RPP radio.

Twenty injured people were taken to hospitals as rescue teams worked to recover bodies from the wreckage.

Accidents are frequent on Peru's often winding, mountainous roads due to speeding, poor road upkeep, a lack of traffic signs and lax enforcement of driving rules.

Last year, the country registered more than 3,300 deaths from more than 87,000 traffic accidents.

Seventeen people died in a similar bus crash on the same road in May.

"I would like to express my sincere condolences to the families who lost their loved ones," Transport Minister Raul Perez told reporters.

The cause of the latest accident has not been established.

Seventy percent of accidents in Peru are due to human factors such as driver incompetence or fatigue, according to official data.