Police say at least 36 people were killed when a double-deck bus veered off a highway and tumbled 200 meters (about 650 feet) down a cliff in southern Peru.

Highway Police chief Jorge Castillo tells The Associated Press that the death toll could rise. Police say at least 34 people are injured.

The accident took place before dawn Wednesday near the province of Camana.

The cause wasn't immediately known, but accidents caused by reckless driving on poorly maintained mountain roads claim dozens of lives every year in Peru. In January 52 people were killed in the country*s worst road fatality in four decades.