Many killed after Peru bus plunges from cliff

At least 48 people have been killed after a bus plunged 100ft on to a beach from a cliff in Peru.

The vehicle, which was travelling on a coastal highway about 25 miles north of the capital Lima, flew off the road after being hit by a tractor-trailer rig, officials said.

Some 57 people were on board at the time of the crash, and Colonel Dino Escudero of the police's highway patrol division has said the death toll is likely to rise.

Rescuers are now working to pull survivors from the partially submerged wreckage, with the bodies of passengers scattered among the seaside rocks.

The place where the bus flew from the road is known as the Devil's Curve, and is notorious for serious road accidents.

Television footage showed rescue workers being lowered to the hard-to-reach spot where the bus landed, just metres from the sea. No roads lead directly to the beach where the vehicle now lies.

Claudia Espinoza, who is working at rescue efforts with Peru's voluntary fire brigade, said five survivors had been taken to a nearby hospital with serious injuries.