Road Accidents Leave More than 40 Dead in Peru

More than 40 people were killed in several road accidents over two days in Peru, police and media reports said late Saturday.

Twenty-three people were killed Saturday after a bus plunged off a 100-meter (350-foot) cliff in the southern Cusco region of Peru, police said.

The accident occurred in the afternoon, and police blamed the crash on heavy rain and a poorly maintained narrow road, according to local media.

The road accident was the latest in a series of deadly crashes in Peru, known for its steep winding roads that climb to altitudes of 4,000 meters (13,000 feet).

Poor conditions of buses, lack of training and lax policing have also worsened the nation's road accident rate.

Earlier in the Arequipa region in the south of the country, a bus from the Lomas del Sur transport company fell off a cliff, killing 10 passengers.

The crash occurred early Saturday morning and also left 30 people injured.

Friday afternoon, nine people were killed in a collision between a minibus and a truck at around 3,800 feet in the southern region. About a dozen people were injured.

During the first half of 2014, 1,406 people were killed in road accidents, according to police.

Road accidents claimed 3,590 lives in 2013 in the nation of about 30 million people.