COLOMBO, May 11, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - An overcrowded bus carrying dozens of Buddhist pilgrims crashed into a precipice in Sri Lanka on Sunday, killing 15 and injuring at least 30, local police said.

Among the worst road accidents in the country in decades, the state-owned bus was travelling through the central hilly region of Kotmale when the driver lost control and it veered off a cliffside road before dawn, police said.

It was carrying around 70 passengers -- about 20 more than its capacity -- police said, adding that an investigation was underway.

"We are trying to establish whether it was a mechanical failure or if the driver fell asleep at the wheel," a local police official told AFP by telephone.

"Fifteen people have died and we have sent 30 to hospital," who were mostly Buddhists, added the official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to media.

The bus was travelling from the pilgrim town of Kataragama in the island's deep south to the central city of Kurunegala, a distance of about 250 kilometres (155 miles).

Sri Lanka records an average of 3,000 road fatalities annually, making the island's roads among the most dangerous in the world.

Sunday's bus accident was one of the worst in Sri Lanka since April 2005, when a driver attempted to beat a train at a level crossing in the town of Polgahawela. The bus driver escaped with minor injuries, but 37 passengers were killed.

In March 2021, 13 passengers and the driver of a privately owned bus died when the vehicle crashed into a precipice in Passara, about 100 kilometres east of the scene of the accident on Sunday.