NAUCALPAN, Mexico (AFP) - A bus packed with morning commuters careened off a cliff outside Mexico City on Friday, leaving 12 people dead, including a child, and 25 more injured, officials said.

The accident occurred during morning rush hour on a road linking the Mexico state capital of Toluca to Mexico City in a rural and mountainous region.

A spokesman for the town of Naucalpan said on Twitter that the dead included eight men, three women and a boy who was wearing a junior high school uniform.

Ambulances rushed to the scene and two helicopters were dispatched to take the injured to a Mexico City hospital.