LIMA At least 30 people died and 20 others were injured Saturday in a bus crash in the Cajamarca region of northern Peru, police said.

The dead included six children, police chief Marcial Gonzales Perez told CPN radio.

The bus, which was carrying about 50 passengers, fell 150 meters off the road after the driver lost control, Perez said.

Rescue teams and local residents were at the scene helping to transport the injured to hospitals as authorities began an investigation into the cause of the accident, he said.

In 2008, at least 875 people were killed and 5,307 injured in road accidents in Peru, down 10 percent from the toll in 2007, according to police.