LA PAZ, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) -- At least 24 people were killed and 15 others wounded in a crash between a bus and a dump truck on a highway in southwestern Bolivia on Monday, according to a preliminary report from the police.

? The accident occurred in the municipality of Thola Pampa as the bus traveling from Villazon to La Paz collided with the dump truck traveling in the opposite direction to Potosi, Victor Hugo Lizarazu, director of transportation in the Bolivian department of Oruro, told reporters.

The truck would have invaded the lane, police said.

The passenger bus, with 44 passengers on board, was destroyed.

Local authorities said some of the injured had been hospitalized in Oruro.