The bus skidded off a road on the bridge and plunged into the water in a fall of at least 40 meters (131 feet) at around 9.30 p.m. local time (5.30 p.m. EST), emergency services said.

Two survivors, the 63-year-old driver and a woman, were pulled out of the river by firefighters with rope and taken to nearby hospitals with varying degrees of injury, according to local sources.

An investigation has been launched into the accident, police said. (ILKHA)