According to the daily, the accident occurred in the early hours of Saturday on the El Triunfo-Bucay highway, when the bus suddenly crashed into a side-rail of a bridge and then plunged into a river.
Passengers of the bus were mostly manufacturers and traders of jeans clothing from the province of Tungurahua and were en route to a handcrafts fair in the town of Guayaquil.
Authorities launched an investigation into the bus crash, while witnesses say that poor weather conditions and heavy rain could be blamed for the tragic accident.