Rescue workers are combing the wreckage of a crashed bus near the town of Kotmale, Sri Lanka. -AP
A passenger bus has skidded off a cliff in Sri Lanka's tea-growing hill country, killing 21 people and injuring at least 14 others.
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The accident occurred in the early hours of Sunday near the town of Kotmale, about 140km east of Colombo, the capital, in a mountainous area of central Sri Lanka, police said.
Deputy Minister of Transport and Highways Prasanna Gunasena told reporters 21 people died in the accident and 14 others were being treated in hospitals.
Local television showed the bus lying overturned at the bottom of a precipice while workers and others helped remove injured people from the rubble.
The driver was injured and among those admitted to the hospital for treatment.
About 50 people were travelling on the bus at the time of the accident.
The bus was operated by a state-run bus company, police said.
Deadly bus accidents are common in Sri Lanka, especially in the mountainous regions, often due to reckless driving and poorly maintained and narrow roads.
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