PANAMA CITY, March 12 (Xinhua) -- 38 people were killed and a dozen more were injured in northern Haiti early Sunday morning after a bus plowed into a group of pedestrians, according to reports from Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti.

The report quoted civil protection authorities of Haiti as saying that the bus initially hit two people in a town near Gonaives city in the north of Haiti at 3 a.m. local time, and then rushed to a crowd of local people gathering for music festical.

The bus was driven from Cap Haitien to the capital Port-au-Prince with passengers.

Reports said 34 people were killed instantly and another four died in hospital. The injured were being treated at a hospital in Gonaives, about 100 kilometers northwest of the capital.

The driver and passengers on the bus were first taken to the police station for questioning and then released, the report added.

It was not immediately known what caused the accident. Haitian President Jovenel Moise on Sunday called for an investigation into the incident.