LIMA: At least 19 people were killed and 37 injured Friday when a long distance passenger bus plunged into a deep ravine in the Andes east of Lima, police said.The bus drove off the Central Highway a main east-west artery some 60 kilometers (37 miles) east of Lima near Tornamesa, in Huarochiri province, said highway patrol Commander Gaston Ramirez.The bus driver was at a tight curve and attempted to pass another vehicle on the left, but came up against a truck, Ramirez said.
"The bus swerved to avoid crashing with the truck and fell into a 180 meter (590 feet) deep ravine," Ramirez said on RPP radio network.The bus was traveling from the central Andean city of Huancayo to Lima, Ramirez said.Police, emergency responders and residents of a nearby village helped rescue the injured and take them to hospitals, Ramirez said.
The company that owns the bus, "Perla del Sur" ("Pearl of the South"), said 60 people were aboard. The company said that it "never had an accident with fatalities."Highway accidents are common on Peruvian highways, where there is little oversight on long-distance bus services. Drivers must also deal with narrow and ill kept mountain roads, and heavy rain during some seasons.Some 3,000 people have died and more than 50,000 have been injured in highway accidents over the past five years, according to the office of the government ombudsman
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