Preliminary police reports indicate that the bus driver lost control of the vehicle before it veered off the road and fell into an 800-meter-deep ravine on Monday. Choque said the stretch of road where the tragedy occurred has sharp curves and steep slopes that increase the risk of accidents.

Nearly 30 people have died and over a dozen were injured after a bus careened off of a winding mountain highway in South America, the BBC reported. Authorities in the district of Yocalla, Bolivia, reported that a passenger bus carrying dozens of people crashed on Monday morning near the city of Potosí.