A man has died and 27 people are in hospital after a bus carrying British passengers crashed in the Canary Islands, local officials have said.

The incident happened at 1.15pm local time on Friday when the vehicle veered into a ravine on the GM-2 highway near the town of San Sebastián de La Gomera.

Local media reported the bus was transporting a British group for a boat tour and four of the injured were in critical condition.

Officials said: “Emergency health services attended to the 28 occupants of the bus – 27 tourists of British nationality and the driver.

“We can confirm one man has died and 27 injured of varying degrees of severity, three of them serious, have been transferred to the Hospital Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe.”

There are understood to have been 25 adults on board including the driver, and three children.

The most seriously injured passenger was transferred to hospital on the neighbouring island of Tenerife with the rest of the injured being treated at La Gomera hospital.

Fernando Clavijo, the president of the Canary Islands, said: “I am following the accident of a bus reported in La Gomera and the work of the emergency teams who are intervening at this moment. My support to the victims and their families.”

The British embassy in the Spanish capital, Madrid, said: “Our thoughts go out to those affected by this tragic incident. We are aware of the situation and we stand ready to support British nationals. We are also in touch with local authorities on the ground.”

Spanish police have launched an investigation but the cause of the crash has not yet been established.

Last year, one woman died and 10 people were injured in a traffic accident on the same road.

The UK foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper, said her thoughts were with those affected by the “tragic” crash and that the Foreign Office was ready to support the British tourists involved and their families.