LIMA, July 16 (Xinhua) -- The death toll from an interprovincial bus accident Tuesday morning on a highway in southwestern Peru's Ayacucho region has risen to 26, local media reported.
According to the private channel "Latina Television," 26 deaths have been reported so far.
Initially, police authorities reported 21 deaths and 15 injured who were taken to the regional hospital.
The vehicle belonging to "Empresa Turismo Molina Union SAC" veered off the road and fell into a ravine about 200 meters deep on the Los Libertadores highway, in the district of Paras, Cangallo province, Ayacucho region.
The bus was traveling on the Lima-Ayacucho route with around 40 passengers on board, according to Jhonny Rolando Valderrama, head of the National Police Road Protection Division.
Five ambulances from local health facilities, the Fire Department, and the Police Health Service were dispatched to the accident site.
