A bus plunged over a cliff in a coastal city in southwestern Haiti and 20 people died, the government said late Sunday.

The statement from the national palace said an investigation had been ordered into the accident.

Earlier in the day, Silvera Guillaume of Haiti's Civil Protection Office said the bus was overloaded when it went off the road in the town of Roseaux at midday Saturday. He said then that 17 people had been killed, including two children.

Another 17 people were injured and were taken to a hospital in the nearby town of Jeremie, he said.(AP)