Lima - At least 22 people died in a head-on collision between two busses about 80 kilometres north of the capital, local media reported Monday.

The accident, which happened late Sunday night, also injured 71 passengers when one of the busses reportedly strayed into the lane of oncoming traffic.

But the two firms, Flores and Soyuz, which owned the busses engaged in open dispute over the accident.

A Flores spokesperson put the blame on the Soyuz bus - a charge that was refuted by a Soyuz spokesperson, who expressed suspicion that the bus was attacked on an open stretch of road.

In Peru and other South American countries, robberies of busses and other vehicles especially at night are not unusual. Often, the bus driver is threatened by fellow passengers who force the bus to stop, or by thieves laying in ambush to shoot at the bus to stop it. (dpa)