SAO PAULO
At least 51 people were killed Saturday when a bus carrying tourists near the city of Joinville in southern Brazil ran off the road into a ravine, according to authorities.
Santa Catarina state road military police confirmed the deaths as of 11:45 p.m. local time Saturday (GMT0245 Sunday), and that two more people were trapped under the wreckage and "would likely take the death toll in 53."
Police also revised the number of injured to 10; two of those rescued from the bus earlier have since died at the hospital, the G1 news site reported.
The bus was traveling in a mountainous region near the town of Campo Alegre, when it fell around 1,300 feet (400 meters) into the ravine.
Santa Catarina state road military police commander Edilson de Tolledo told The Anadolu Agency earlier Saturday that preliminary investigations appeared to show that the bus experienced brake failure and lost control on one of the ridge's numerous tight bends.
The incident is reported to have occurred at around 5:30 p.m. local time (GMT2030).
Rescue efforts are hampered by the remote location, dense vegetation and poor radio and cellular coverage in the mountainous region.
Survivors are being taken to area hospitals and to those in nearby Paraná state.
Local media reported that motorists attempted to climb into the ravine to help survivors.
The tour bus had come to the area from neighboring Paraná state, police told the AA.
The incident occurred near a viewpoint in the picturesque Serra Dona Francisca mountain range that is popular with tourists. The region is at the southern end of the dense Atlantic rainforest, which stretches the length of the eastern seaboard of the country.
Brazil is among the world's worst countries for traffic-related fatalities. In 2013, at least 40,500 people were killed on roads in Latin America's most populous country, according to data from Brazil's public health system, down from 44,800 in 2012.
