The bus was heading to the town of Sorochuco on Sunday evening when it overturned and crashed down a slope into a river, Olga Bobadilla, provincial prosecutor for the Cajamarca region, told local radio station RPP.
"Information is still being collected because the accident occurred at night on a fairly rugged road, an unpaved road, where the bus fell down into the river," Bobadilla said.
Local media outlets reported that the bus was traveling from the nearby town of Celendin, which announced three days of mourning in a statement shared by the local government.
Celendin Commissioner Alexander Uriarte said in an interview with TV station Canal N that 25 people had been killed and 13 more, including the bus driver, were injured.
Accidents are relatively common along Peru's precarious roads, with around two dozen people dying in a crash in September and at least 24 dying when a bus plunged off a cliff in January 2023.
