At least 15 killed as bus in Peru falls into ravine

LIMA: At least 15 people were killed and six injured Friday in northern Peru when a bus left a road and fell 200 meters (660 feet) into a ravine, police said.

The cause of the accident has not yet been announced. The bus driver was killed in the morning crash, which occurred in Peru's Morropon Province about 652 miles (1,050 km) north of the capital Lima.

"We have so far identified 15 killed," police officer Luis Barreto told AFP.

The injured were transported to the nearest hospital in Morropon.

Peru's roads are among the most treacherous in Latin America, accounting for an average of 3,300 deaths per year over the past decade among its nearly 30 million residents.

Despite safety improvements in recent years, 2,900 people were killed in Peruvian traffic accidents in 2010 and 2,830 last year, according to government figures. (AFP)