MEXICO CITY: A bus apparently went out of control after a blowout and turned over, killing 16 people in central Hidalgo state, Mexican authorities said.

State attorney general's spokesman Fernando Hidalgo said the accident happened Sunday afternoon as a group of tourists was returning to Mexico City from a weekend trip to the thermal baths in the town of Santa Maria Amajac.

Hidalgo said witnesses reported that the bus driver lost control when the vehicle blew a tire. The bus hit a guard rail and flipped.

The official said the bus was an old model from the 1970s and in poor condition.

The attorney general's Twitter account said seven men, seven women and two children died. Nineteen people were injured.