Bus plunges down ravine, seven dead

Seven people have died and another 32 injured when a bus plunged down a ravine in the northwestern Colombian province of Antioquia.

The director of the Dapard emergency management office in Antioquia, John Freddy Rendon Roldan, told Efe news agency that the accident occurred on a highway through the village of Anori on Saturday.

"A bus plunged down an abyss and at present we have seven people dead," the official said, adding that 32 people were taken to hospitals in the area for treatment.

"Of the injured, seven are in very grave condition," of whom several were flown to hospital by helicopter because the state requires it that way, Rendon said.

Roldan said that the bus was carrying between 40 and 45 passengers, most of them peasants from the district.

The causes of the accident remain unknown, but authorities have launched an investigation.

- AAP