At least 30 travellers were killed in Ecuador when their bus tumbled off the road and fell down a 150m (500ft) ravine, officials say.
Some 30 more people were injured in the crash, and at least eight of the dead were reported to be children.
The bus came off the road near the town of El Carmen in western Ecuador.
Officials said the crash appeared to have been caused by a mechanical fault, but Red Cross workers suggested fog and rain might have played a part.
Local media reported that the brakes on the bus may have failed.
El Carmen firefighter Jairo Flores told El Tiempo newspaper that the bus was travelling between Quito and the town of Chone when it came off the road at 0400 (0900 GMT).
Police told Spanish news agency Efe that 30 people had died, but other reports gave higher death tolls and said the number was likely to rise.
BBC Mundo reported that the bus was supposed to carry only 40 passengers, but appeared to have more than 60 people on board when it crashed.
A bus crash that killed 38 people in Cotopaxi province in August was said to have been the deadliest road accident in Ecuador’s history.
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