Chilling new detail has emerged after a horror bus crash that left 10 dead, including at least one child, when the vehicle plunged more than 600ft down an embankment.

The bus was said to be full of people travelling home for Christmas when it was tragically caught up in the collision in Zontecomatlan, Mexico, on Christmas Eve. The accident happened at around 5pm local time, just hours before families were due to gather for Christmas festivities.

It was initially reported that eight people had died and 19 people were injured. The death toll has now risen to at least 10, including one child, and at least 32 passengers are being treated in hospital.

“At this stage we have confirmed nine adults and one child dead,” the Zontecomatlan mayor’s office said in a statement. The injured were transferred to hospitals across Mexico after being rescued by emergency services workers, local news reports.

The bus had left the capital Mexico City and was heading for the town of Chicontepec in Veracruz’s Huasteca region, surrounded by lush tropical landscapes, rivers and mountains. It was not immediately clear why the vehicle had come off the road and whether the driver, named locally as Carlos Daniel Baez, was among those killed or hurt.

The bus landed upside down as it crashed ( 
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Staff of the General Prosecutor’s Office of Justice of the State of Veracruz have launched a probe into the incident and are working alongside detectives to determine the cause of the crash.

In a previous statement, State governors said: “The state government is coordinating the response to a bus accident which occurred in a ravine in Zontecomatlan. At present, 19 injured people are receiving care and have been transferred to Chicontepec and Huayacocotla.

“Unfortunately, the Public Prosecutor’s Office has confirmed eight deaths. We are continuing with rescue and care work at the site, together with the teams present.”