A packed bus collided with a truck and burst into flames early on Saturday in Brazil, killing more than 30 people, the fire department said.

After removing all of the victims from a major highway near the town of Teofilo Otoni in Minas Gerais, the state's fire department reported that of the 45 people on the bus, 38, including the bus driver, had been confirmed dead.

The other passengers remained in critical condition after being transported to a local hospital.

The truck driver fled the scene, and three occupants of a car that collided with the truck and became trapped underneath survived the accident, said the fire department.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva stated on social media that the government was ready to provide whatever assistance was needed, and that the Federal Highway Policy was at the site.

"I deeply mourn and extend my prayers to the families of the more than 30 victims of the accident in Teofilo Otoni, Minas Gerais. I pray for the recovery of the survivors of this terrible tragedy," he wrote on X.

A forensic investigation will be required to determine the accident's cause, as differing accounts were gathered from witness testimonies, said the local fire department.

Initially, firefighters reported the bus had a tire blowout, causing the driver to lose control before colliding at around 4 a.m. local time, with an oncoming truck on the BR-116 federal highway, a major route connecting Brazil's densely populated southeast to the poorer northeast.

However, witnesses also reported that a granite block the truck was transporting came loose, fell on the road and caused the collision with the bus, said the fire department.

"Only the forensic investigation will confirm the true version," said the fire department in a statement.

The bus departed from Sao Paulo and was headed to the state of Bahia.

U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday agreed to provide $571.3 million in defense support for Taiwan, the White House said, while the State Department approved the potential sale to the island of $265 million worth of military equipment.

The United States is bound by law to provide Chinese-claimed Taiwan with the means to defend itself despite the lack of formal diplomatic ties between Washington and Taipei, to the constant anger of Beijing, Reuters reported.

Democratically governed Taiwan rejects China's claims of sovereignty.

China has stepped up military pressure against Taiwan, including daily military activities near the island and two rounds of war games this year.

Taiwan went on alert last week in response to what it said was China's largest massing of naval forces in three decades around Taiwan and in the East and South China Seas.

Biden had delegated to the secretary of state the authority "to direct the drawdown of up to $571.3 million in defense articles and services of the Department of Defense, and military education and training, to provide assistance to Taiwan," the White House said in a statement without providing details.

Taiwan's defense ministry thanked the United States for its "firm security guarantee", saying in a statement the two sides would continue to work closely on security issues to ensure peace in the Taiwan Strait.

The Pentagon said the State Department had approved the potential sale to Taiwan of about $265 million worth of command, control, communications, and computer modernization equipment.

Taiwan's defense ministry said the equipment sale would help upgrade its command-and-control systems.

Taiwan's defense ministry also said on Saturday that the U.S. government had approved $30 million of parts for 76 mm autocannon, which it said would boost the island's capacity to counter China's "grey-zone" warfare.

A spending bill backed by Donald Trump failed in the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday as dozens of Republicans defied the president-elect, leaving Congress with no clear plan to avert a fast-approaching government shutdown that could disrupt Christmas travel.

The vote laid bare fault lines in Trump's Republican Party that could surface again next year when they control the White House and both chambers of Congress, Reuters reported.

Trump had pressured lawmakers to tie up loose ends before he takes office on Jan. 20, but members of the party's right flank refused to support a package that would increase spending and clear the way for a plan that would add trillions more to the federal government's $36 trillion in debt.

"I am absolutely sickened by a party that campaigns on fiscal responsibility and has the temerity to go to the American people and say you think this is fiscally responsible," said Republican Representative Chip Roy, one of 38 Republicans who voted against the bill.

The package failed by a vote of 174-235 just hours after it was hastily assembled by Republican leaders seeking to comply with Trump's demands. A prior bipartisan deal was scuttled after Trump and the world's richest person Elon Musk came out against it on Wednesday.

Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson provided no details when reporters asked him about next steps after the failed vote.

"We will come up with another solution," he said.

Government funding is due to expire at midnight on Friday. If lawmakers fail to extend that deadline, the U.S. government will begin a partial shutdown that would interrupt funding for everything from border enforcement to national parks and cut off paychecks for more than 2 million federal workers. The U.S. Transportation Security Administration warned that travelers during the busy holiday season could face long lines at airports.

"Congress must get rid of, or extend out to, perhaps, 2029, the ridiculous Debt Ceiling. Without this, we should never make a deal," Trump said in a post on Truth Social hours after the bill failed.

Thursday's unsuccessful bill largely resembled the earlier version that Musk and Trump had blasted as a wasteful giveaway to Democrats. It would have extended government funding into March and provided $100 billion in disaster relief and suspended the debt. Republicans dropped other elements that had been included in the original package, such as a pay raise for lawmakers and new rules for pharmacy benefit managers.

At Trump's urging, the new version also would have suspended limits on the national debt for two years -- a maneuver that would make it easier to pass the dramatic tax cuts he has promised.

Johnson before the vote told reporters that the package would avoid disruption, tie up loose ends and make it easier for lawmakers to cut spending by hundreds of billions of dollars when Trump takes office next year.

"Government is too big, it does too many things, and it does few things well," he said.

TEEING UP TAX CUT

Democrats blasted the bill as a cover for a budget-busting tax cut that would largely benefit wealthy backers such as Musk, the world's richest person, while saddling the country with trillions of dollars in additional debt.

"How dare you lecture America about fiscal responsibility, ever?" House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said during floor debate.

Even if the bill had passed the House, it would have faced long odds in the Senate, which is currently controlled by Democrats. The White House said Democratic President Joe Biden did not support it.

Previous fights over the debt ceiling have spooked financial markets, as a U.S. government default would send credit shocks around the world. The limit has been suspended under an agreement that technically expires on Jan. 1, though lawmakers likely will not have to tackle the issue before the spring.

When he returns to office, Trump aims to enact tax cuts that could reduce revenues by $8 trillion over 10 years, which would drive the debt higher without offsetting spending cuts. He has vowed not to reduce retirement and health benefits for seniors that make up a vast chunk of the budget and are projected to grow dramatically in the years to come.

The last government shutdown took place in December 2018 and January 2019 during Trump's first White House term.

The unrest also threatened to topple Johnson, a mild-mannered Louisianan who was thrust unexpectedly into the speaker's office last year after the party's right flank voted out then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy over a government funding bill. Johnson has repeatedly had to turn to Democrats for help in passing legislation when he has been unable to deliver the votes from his own party.

He tried the same maneuver on Thursday, but this time fell short.

Several Republicans said they would not vote for Johnson as speaker when Congress returns in January, potentially setting up another tumultuous leadership battle in the weeks before Trump takes office.