1st LD Writethru: Death toll increased to 43 in a bus crash in Brazil

At least 43 people died and several were wounded after a tourist bus plunged 400 meters into a ravine in Santa Catarina province, southern Brazil Saturday afternoon, local GLOBO website reported.

Up to 11 p.m.(0200 GMT), there were 41 people found dead and another two died in local hospital, with the total death mounting to 43, the website quoted a local police officer as saying.

Earlier report from Xinhua said at least 32 people were killed.

The number of death might continue to increase.

Up to now the local police didn't know the exact number of people on the bus when it crashed, or whether the driver was dead.

Rescue crews were still trying to search for survivors and recover the bodies of the victims late in the day.

Preliminary investigation showed that the driver lost control of the vehicle during a turn, causing it to veer off the road. Highway and weather conditions at the time were good, a police spokesman said.

The accident happened on SC-418 highway, KM89, just 10 km away from the destination in the city of Joinville.

The crash might be the most deadly bus accident in Santa Catarina in history. In 2000, an Argentina's bus crashed in Santa Catarina, causing the death of 42.

The country averages more than 18 highway deaths per 100,000 people per year, compared with only about 10 in high-income countries, according to a report by the Inter-American Development Bank, the most important regional development institution in Latin America and the Caribbean. Endi