One person was killed and dozens injured when a bus carrying 46 people rolled down a bank in New Zealand on Saturday, police said.

The bus was 30 kilometres (20 miles) from the popular holiday resort town of Gisborne, on the east coast of the North Island, when it crashed through a barrier and down a bank at about 10.30 pm (0930 GMT) on Christmas Eve.

Police said one person was confirmed dead, several were airlifted to hospitals with various injuries and 36 were taken by ambulance to Gisborne for further assessment.

They said it would be several hours before they would be able to release details on whether any of the passengers were foreign tourists.

The news came as an interstate bus in Malaysia carrying passengers from Singapore and Myanmar careered off a highway early Saturday, killing 14 people and injuring 16 others.