At least 15 people have died in Mexico after a tourist bus overturned on a road in the western state of Nayarit, local authorities said.

The security ministry said in a statement that "so far there are 15 dead," including two minors, and about a dozen wounded.

The victims were tourists from the state of Guanajuato who were on their way back to Leon, the largest city of this state, after a vacation.

Scenes posted by the authorities on social media showed the bus overturned in a shallow ravine on the side of a road.

Local media reported that the bus was carrying 48 people, taxi drivers and their families, who had organized the trip over the end of the year.