La Paz  - At least 30 people died Tuesday in a traffic accident near the southern Bolivian city of Potosi, 480 kilometres south of La Paz, Bolivian road police said.

A truck carrying some 50 people fell down a 180-metre ravine, the Erbol radio network reported. Thirty of the passengers died and the remaining 20 were severely injured, the radio said citing eyewitnesses.

The accident happened near the town of Yocalla, 51 kilometros north-east of Bolivia's mining city Potosi. The truck was taking people from Potosi to a rural place in the same province and crashed in an area where the winding road is flanked by 180-250-metre deep ravines.

The rescue was said to be difficult, and many bodies were mutilated.

For many extremely poor Bolivians, trucks are the only affordable transport.

There were no immediate reports of the cause of the accident. (dpa)