At least 12 people were killed Monday when a bus went off a mountain road in southeastern Peru, plunging 1,000 meters into an abyss, police said.

The bus belonging to the Sanchez line was on a road linking the cities of Nazca and Puquio in the region of Ayacucho when the accident occurred, high police chief Orfiles Bravo told RPP radio.

"It apparently went off the road and has fallen some 1,000 meters (3,000 feet)" he said.

"There are 12 dead and 20 injured so far," he added.

Rescue efforts were hampered by heavy rains in the area, police reported.

The accident came a week after 37 people were killed and at least 70 injured in a multiple-vehicle collision in northern Peru.

Deadly accidents are not uncommon in Peru. In the first half of last year, 1,406 people were killed in road accidents. The full-year death toll was 3,590 in 2013 and 4,138 in 2012.