A passenger bus travelling in eastern Algeria crashed, killing 25 people and injuring 44, the latest figures released by the Civil Protection Authority on Friday showed.
The casualty figures have been rising all day from the initial report of 11 dead and 38 injured, the data showed.
Algeria's President Abdelmadjid Tebboune declared three days of national mourning and announced harsh consequences for anyone found responsible.
The Civil Protection Authority said its teams are continuing rescue and evacuation operations at the crash site, while the injured are being transferred to hospitals. It added that the casualty toll remains preliminary and could rise further as emergency operations continue.
Nassim Bernawi, deputy director for information and awareness at Algeria's Civil Protection, told dpa that the bus had veered off the road before plunging down an embankment in Boumerdes province, which borders the Algiers province to the east and is about 50 kilometres from the capital, Algiers.
Rescue teams were continuing search, rescue and evacuation operations at the scene, transferring the injured to nearby hospitals, Bernawi said.
The bus had been travelling from Setif province, some 166 kilometres east of the Boumerdes, when it crashed on the bypass road in the Rahmoun El Karma area of Boumerdes municipality.