Photo: IC

At least 16 people were killed and another 40 injured when a bus crashed on Monday morning into a number of other vehicles near the town of Caraveli in the Arequipa region of Peru, said Dember Munoz Lozada, head of Regional Health Management for Arequipa.

The official said that the accident occurred at 00:41 a.m. local time (0541 GMT) on Monday, when the bus, which was heading from Lima toward the city of Arequipa, crashed into several other vehicles.

According to Munoz Lozada, two people severely injured in the accident were taken to Nazca Hospital near Arequipa, where they received emergency care.

There were four foreign tourists among the injured, including two Brazilians.

The manager of the Superintendency of Ground Transportation of People, Cargo and Merchandise, Jorge Beltran, said that a possible cause of the accident was the driver's excessive speed, as the vehicle was travelling at over 100 km per hour.

Peru's highways have seen frequent fatal accidents as many of the nation's roadways pass through the dangerous Andes Mountains.