SAO PAULO, April 4 (Xinhua) -- At least seven people were killed and 20 others injured on Friday when a bus carrying university students and faculty plunged off a highway in southern Brazil, according to local fire officials.
The accident occurred on state highway RSC-453 in the town of Imigrante, in Rio Grande do Sul, near the borders with Argentina and Uruguay.
The bus was transporting students and professors from the Federal University of Santa Maria, one of Brazil's top public universities, local media reported.
Injured passengers were taken to a nearby hospital in the city of Teutonia.
Governor of Rio Grande do Sul Eduardo Leite offered condolences, saying the state was "in mourning" and would support those affected.
Authorities are investigating the cause of the crash.
