At least 21 passengers killed

A person bus that drove from a cliff in Sri Lanka's tea forest hill country on Sunday, killed 21 people and injured at least 14, said an official.

The accident occurred in the early morning hours of Sunday near the city of Kotmale, about 140 km east of the capital Colombo in a mountainous area of ​​the central -sri Lanka, the police said.

The deputy minister of transport and highways, Prasanna Gunasena, told the media that 21 people died in the accident and 14 others were treated in hospitals.

The local television showed that the bus overturned on the bottom of an abyss, while workers and others contributed to removing injured people from the ruins.

The driver was injured and among those who were hospitalized for treatment. At the time of the accident, almost 50 people traveled by bus.

The bus was operated by a state company, the police said.

In Sri Lanka, fatal bus accidents are common, especially in the mountain regions, often due to ruthless driving and poorly maintained and narrow streets.