SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador -- (AP) -- A bus filled with passengers plunged into a ravine in northern El Salvador on Tuesday and 22 people were killed, according to police.

 ``The accident apparently was caused because one of the front tires blew out,'' said policeman Martin Mat ]a in Tacuba, a town near the site of the crash.

 Mata said the bus went down a 40-foot slope just north of Ahuachapan along the Guatemala border.

 At least 22 people died and at least 30 were hospitalized with injuries, said Eric Canizalez, a representative of the Salvadoran Red Cross. All were believed to be
 Salvadorans.

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