Bogota, July 23 (IANS) At least 23 people have been killed and 21 injured when a bus they were travelling in slid into a 500-metre deep ravine in southwestern Colombia, EFE news agency reported Wednesday citing the police. The accident occurred Tuesday on the highway connecting the cities of Pasto and Puerto Asis in Narino province bordernig Ecuador, provincial highway police chief General Luis Alberto Moore said.

Among the dead were two children, Moore said and added that nine of the injured were in serious condition.

Poor weather and low visibility were cited as factors in the accident on the mountain road, which has earned the nickname “road of death” for the high number of accidents there.