At least 42 people were killed after a bus plunged off a mountain ridge in Southern Brazil late Saturday.

Police say, the bus carrying 50 passengers, was on its way to a religious event in the neighboring state Parana, when it appeared to have lost control at a curve.  The bus fell more than 1,000 feet off a wooded ravine near the city of Joinville in Santa Catarina state. 

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Six survivors including four children were pulled out from the wreckage and were immediately taken to a hospital.

Darkness had complicated search and rescue efforts, while emergency helicopters had difficulty to land due to the terrain.

Brazilian authorities still could not confirm how many people were trapped in the wreckage other than the bus passengers.  But hopes of getting them alive from the wreckage remain uncertain.  "There are people out there, on the hill, in the bus, trapped in the wreckage. But the chance of finding someone alive are pretty slim," Colonel Nelson Coelho said in a statement.

Authorities are still investigating the cause of the crash, but police suspect, the brakes on the bus had failed.  A police spokesman said roads and weather conditions at the time of the accident were good. The mountains was a popular site for tourists. 

A local newspaper had reported that the long and winding road was an accident-prone area. The report said 66 people had been killed there in highway accidents in the last five years.

Twenty seven people were killed in a single accident in 2007, while a crash in 1999 left 35 people dead.

Brazil have had quite a huge number of road accidents in recent years, and it is known to have some of Latin America's deadliest roads. 

Based on figures from the World Health Organization, the annual rate of road accidents in Brazil doubles that of the United States. 

An estimated 43,000 people are killed in road accidents in Brazil every year.

Tagsbus accident, highway deaths, ravine