At least 24 people have been killed after a bus plummeted off a cliff & crashed into a river in a mountainous region of South Africa on Tuesday. Three were children, aged 1, 3 & 7, among the killed. More bodies might be trapped underneath the bus, which was lying on its roof in shallow water.

The police are waiting to remove the damaged bus until after it has been examined by a mechanical expert. The bus, which belonged to a private company, was believed to have carried 80 passengers.

The accident happened around 10 a.m. local time near Matatiele in a mountainous part of the Eastern Cape. Police & Defense Force helicopters were taking the dead & injured up to higher ground. The cause of the accident was not yet known.