CULIACÁN, Mexico - A fiery collision between a double-decker bus and a truck left 19 people dead and 22 injured Tuesday in northwestern Mexico, authorities said.

Officials were seen removing remains from the charred wreckage of the bus, which had been traveling from the city of Guadalajara in the western state of Jalisco to Los Mochis in Sinaloa.

"Nineteen lifeless bodies have been counted," Sara Quinonez, attorney general of Sinaloa state, said in a video posted on social media, adding that it would take time to identify the victims.

The truck and the bus -- carrying nearly 50 people -- collided head-on before catching fire, Roy Navarrete, director of civil protection in Sinaloa, said at a press conference.

Authorities were investigating the cause of the pre-dawn accident on a highway in the municipality of Elota.

Deadly road smashes are common in Mexico, often due to high speeds, poor vehicle conditions or driver fatigue.

Crashes involving freight trucks have also increased on the country's highways.

In one of the worst accidents in recent years, at least 29 people were killed in July 2023 when a passenger bus careened off a mountain road and plummeted into a ravine in the southern state of Oaxaca.

In November, 12 people died and dozens injured when a bus overturned in the southeastern state of Veracruz.

Safety campaigners have called for stricter regulations, such as a ban on trucks pulling two cargo trailers.

Road crashes are a leading cause of deaths among migrants making the dangerous journey overland to the United States.

In December 2021, 56 mostly Central American migrants were killed and dozens injured when a people smugglers' truck overturned in the southern state of Chiapas.

In October last year, a bus carrying migrants overturned on a highway linking the southern state of Oaxaca and neighboring Puebla, leaving at least 18 people dead.