Quito - (AFP) - Three Ecuadorean climbers died and 12 others were injured when they tried to reach the top of Ecuador's Cariwirazo volcano, according to aid agencies.

"A woman aged forty-seven and two men aged forty-five and fifty were killed," ECU911 Rescue Authority said in a statement.

She added that it was impossible to remove the bodies from the site "because of the weather and the onset of darkness."

The twelve injured, whose ages ranged between thirty-nine and fifty-eight, were transferred to hospitals in the cities of Riobamba and Ambato.

The climbers were trying to reach the summit of the volcano located in the central region of the Andes mountain range when they fell from a height of 60 metres.

The height of Kariwirazo is 5018 meters, and it is located in the province of Tungurawa, near the Chimborazo volcano, which is the highest peak in Ecuador and has a height of more than 6200 meters.

On Sunday, work continues to recover the bodies of the dead, all Ecuadoreans.