Tourists killed as bus plunges from cliff

Americans from a cruise ship died when their bus fell from a steep cliff at Arica. Picture / Reuters

SANTIAGO - At least 12 foreigners, most of them believed to be Americans, died when a bus fell off a steep cliff in northern Chile, Cooperativa radio station reported.

Celebrity Cruises said from Miami that the dead and injured were from its Millennium cruise ship, which was docked in Arica, a port city in northern Chile.

Celebrity Cruises, a unit of Royal Caribbean Cruises, the world's second-largest cruise group, said the small bus involved in the accident was operated by a private tour company not affiliated with the cruise line.

At least four other tourists were injured in the accident, which happened near the Chile-Bolivia border on an excursion to a national park.

"It's a very dangerous slope. A driver without experience would have an accident if he did not come down very carefully ... It's very steep," Rafael Caro, manager of a tour company associated with the cruise, said.

- REUTERS