At least 24 people were killed and 26 others injured Friday after a bus carrying them went off the road and fell into a ravine in the western Mexican state of Nayarit, local authorities announced.

The accident occurred at about 4 a.m. local time (0900 GMT) in the Tequepexpan Chapalilla Bridge when the bus veered off the road and fell into a ravine, the state civil protection service said.

The road where the accident happened is a junction with two-way traffic that connects Guadalajara-Tepic highway which leads to Puerto Vallarta.

The source explained that all the tourists on the bus were from northern state of Chihuahua on their way to Rincon de Guayabitos, about 700 km northwest of Mexico City.

Nayarit's Civil Protection Director Martin Tapia Miranda said that fatigue and speeding were the main causes of this accident. Rescue workers, paramedics and firefighters were dispatched to the scene to help the victims while traffic has been suspended along the roadway to facilitate rescue efforts and tow away the wreckage.

He said that the wounded were taken to three hospitals in Tepic, the capital of Nayarit state, while the bodies were taken to the public prosecutor for identification and later will be transferred to their home.