At least 37 people were killed and dozens injured after a bus plunged into a ravine in the Arequipa region of southern Peru, local authorities said on Wednesday.

The fatalities included 36 people who died on site, and another person who died in hospital, said Walther Oporto, Arequipa's regional health chief, citing firefighters at the scene of the accident.

The bus struck a van and veered off the road into a ravine, Oporto said in a television interview.

The Arequipa government said on social media that 26 people were being treated for injuries, three of them in serious condition. It added that an unofficial report from the highway patrol confirmed 16 deaths.

Mayor of the Nicolas de Pierola district spoke to journalists abou the search and rescue efforts.

"We have to identify the deceased. The provincial prosecutor will come immediately, so they can begin transferring these bodies from the riverside to be taken to the Camana morgue, where their relatives can identify them and give them a proper burial." he said.

The early-morning accident took place on the Panamericana Sur highway in Arequipa's Ocona district. 

Footage from the scene showed the toppled bus downhill from the highway, with another damaged vehicle along the road.

Firefighters were also seen descending into the ravine to rescue injured people from the bus that fell after it collided with a truck. 

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