Latest: Dozens killed after bus crashes off cliff in Peru

Latest: At least 44 people have been killed after a double-decker bus veered off a road and tumbled 650ft down a cliff in southern Peru.

Update 6.40pm: At least 44 people have been killed after a double-decker bus veered off a road and tumbled 650ft down a cliff in southern Peru.

Police said about two dozen people were injured but they are not sure how many people were on board. Air Force helicopters helped rescue survivors.

The accident took place before dawn on Wednesday near a river in the coastal province of Camana.

The cause was not immediately known but accidents caused by reckless driving on poorly maintained mountain roads claim dozens of lives every year in Peru.

Bodies of victims of a bus accident are recovered, in Arequipa, Peru.

In January 52 people were killed in the country's worst road accident in four decades.

Earlier: At least 36 killed after bus veers off cliff in Peru

At least 36 people have been killed after a double-decker bus veered off a road and tumbled 650ft down a cliff in southern Peru.

Highway police chief Jorge Castillo said the death toll could rise. Police say at least 34 other people were injured.

A crashed bus lays on the bottom of a cliff in Arequipa, Peru

The accident took place before dawn on Wednesday near the province of Camana.

The cause of the accident is not immediately known, but crashes caused by reckless driving on poorly maintained mountain roads claim dozens of lives every year in Peru.

In January, 52 people were killed in the country's worst road fatality in four decades.

- PA