Several Killed in Mexico After Bus Carrying Cruise Passengers Flips Over

At least 12 people, including a minor, died Tuesday after a bus carrying several cruise ship passengers lost control and flipped over on a highway in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. Eighteen others were injured.

According to Vicente Martin, the civil defense spokesperson for the state, seven Americans and two Swedes are among the injured. The nationalities of the dead are yet to be announced.

Though it's still unclear how the accident occurred, several bystanders painted a bloody image to local media outlets of bodies covered with blankets strewn along the two-lane highway, the New York Daily News reported.

"The bus clearly lost control somehow as there were swerve marks all over the road surface," Chris Brawley, a Texan on vacation, told AP.

At the time of the crash, the bus was carrying a total of 31 passengers from Miami-based Royal Caribbean Cruises. In a statement issued by the popular cruise line, it said the collision involved tourists from its Celebrity Equinox and Serenade of the Seas vessels.

"Our hearts go out to all those involved in the bus accident," Cynthia Martinez, the cruise line's spokesperson, said in a statement. "We are doing all we can to care for our guests, including assisting with medical care and transportation."

The group of tourists were heading to Chacchoben, an ancient Mayan ruin south of the resort town of Tulum, when the bus veered off the road around 10 a.m. local time.