At Least 26 Dead After Bus Plunges Over Cliff in Peru

Peruvian officials say a bus carrying 63 passengers went off a cliff along a main highway in the Andes mountains, plunging into an abyss and killing at least 29 people in the early hours of Tuesday, authorities said. 

Police told Peruvian media the incident happened near the town of Matucana, along a narrow stretch of Peru's Central Highway, a corridor that connects the capital, Lima, to much of the central Andes. 

Senior police officials told Peruvian television the bus collided with a rock and went over the cliff. Witnesses at the scene said the fall was at least 100 meters. 

Police officials say they believe the bus was traveling at a reckless rate of speed, but the accident remains under investigation. 

The accident is the second involving a bus plunging from a road in Peru in a matter of days. On Friday, a bus carrying miners in a different part of the Andes also drove off a cliff, killing 16. 

The two incidents are unrelated, although bus plunges are not uncommon in Peru, especially in the Andes. The mountain range traverses the length of the country, and its highways are often dangerous, overlooking tall cliffs. 

Some information for this report was provided by The Associated Press and Reuters.