SANTIAGO (Reuters) -- At least 20 Chilean soldiers died around midday on Sunday when the bus they were traveling in plunged off a bridge into a river in the south of the country, local media reported.

The accident happened near the village of Canete, some 375 miles (600 km) south of the capital Santiago, during torrential rain, private radio station Radio Cooperativa reported.

Around 30 soldiers were believed to be on the bus at the time of the accident, the station said.

The bus smashed through a barrier at the side of the road and plummeted 50 feet (15 metres) into the Tucapel River.

Television pictures showed it lying on its side, completely submerged, with many of its windows smashed.

Gen. Oscar Izurieta, head of the Chilean army, said 14 of the victims were members of a military musical band, traveling to an anniversary celebration in Canete. The driver of the bus was among the dead.

In May last year, 45 Chilean soldiers died in a ferocious snowstorm in the southern Andes, which run along Chile's eastern border. That death toll was the worst suffered by the Chilean army in a single incident in peace time.