TEHRAN, July 17 (MNA) – A bus crash in Peru’s Andes mountains has killed at least 23 people and injured more than a dozen others, the country’s interior ministry said, as emergency crews struggled to reach the site of the incident.In a post on social media on Tuesday afternoon, the ministry said Peruvian police were carrying out a search-and-rescue operation after the crash in the Ayacucho region, located in the south-central Andes.

Thirteen injured people were evacuated from the crash site, the ministry added.

Jhonny Rolando Valderrama, head of a highway protection division, told RPP radio earlier in the day that the crash occurred on the Los Libertadores highway.

The bus, which was carrying more than 40 people, was headed for Ayacucho from the capital, Lima, when it veered off a cliff about 200m (656ft) high in the early morning hours, Valderrama said.

“The area is difficult to access for the emergency services,” Valderrama also told the AFP news agency, adding that an investigation was underway to determine the cause of the crash.

Deadly bus crashes are common on Peru’s precarious mountain roads.

MP/PR