Kuala Lampur, Nov. 13 -- LIMA, Nov 13 - At least 37 people were killed and 24 injured in southern Peru on Wednesday when a double-decker bus plunged into a ravine after colliding with a pickup truck, officials said.

The accident in Arequipa is one of the worst in recent years in the South American nation, where road fatalities are frequent.

It occurred at dawn along a stretch of the Panamericana Sur highway that connects Peru with Chile.

"We have a figure of 37 fatalities...in addition to 24 injured," Walther Oporto, the regional health manager of Arequipa, told AFP.

The death toll could rise as some people were seriously injured in the crash, he said by telephone.

The double-decker bus, operated by the Llamosas company, had departed...