QUITO (AFP) - A bus crash in Ecuador's Andes mountains left 10 people dead, authorities said on Saturday (Sept 1), bringing the country's death toll from such accidents to 45 in the past three weeks.

The bus was travelling to Loja, in southern Peru, when it crashed 21km south of the city of Cuenca.

"Our personnel recovered 10 bodies (seven adults and three children) and transferred five of 16 people injured in the bus accident," Cuenca's fire department said on Twitter.

Images shared by the department showed the bus overturned on its side.

On Aug 14, a Colombian bus carrying 40 passengers crashed on the outskirts of Ecuador's capital Quito, killing 23 people, among them Colombians and Venezuelans.

Days earlier, another bus carrying Barcelona football fans crashed in southern Ecuador, killing 12 people and injuring 30.

(This story is developing)