Picture used for illustrative purposes only.

At least 31 people were killed and 10 others injured when a driver lost control of a passenger bus in southern Mali on Tuesday, the country's government announced.

The bus carrying Malians and nationals from the West African subregion was en route to Burkina Faso when it "overturned,” said a statement posted on Mali's Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure's Facebook page.

"The provisional toll is 31 killed on the spot and 10 injured, some of them seriously," the statement said. The accident around 5pm local time in Koumantou south of Bamako.

Accidents involving public transport buses are a frequent occurrence in Mali. On Feb. 19, at least 15 people died and more than 46 were injured in a traffic accident between a public transport bus and a lorry in central Mali.

Associated Press