At least two people died and 17 more were injured on Friday when a passenger bus smashed into a cargo truck in a highway in southern Mexico.

The accident occurred at 4:00 a.m. local time (0900 GMT) on Friday in Autopista del Sol highway, in Chiplancingo city, capital of Guerrero state, said the state Civil Protection Direction.

The cause of the accident is still unclear, and the bus dived off a cliff after hitting the truck.

The victims are yet to be identified and the 17 injured have been taken to different hospitals in Chiplancingo and the Acapulo Port on the Pacific coast, said Nubia Sayago Gonzalez, an official of the Civil Protection Direction.

(Xinhua News Agency August 1, 2009)