UPDATE: Australian man killed in Bolivia identified as media advisor Kurt Steel

The Australian man killed in a tourist bus crash in Bolivia has been named as Canberra man Kurt Steel, a media advisor to ACT Treasurer Andrew Barr.

Steel’s family released a statement thanking people for their support, the Canberra Times has reported.

"Our thoughts are also with other families with relatives involved," the statement said.

"We love you Kurt and we’ll miss you forever."

ACT chief minister Katy Gallagher and deputy chief minister Andrew Barr have released a joint statement that said Steel was an "enormous contributor to the ACT Government."

"He was a natural leader who always had a smile on his face and took a positive approach to work and life. He was very excited about his six week trip of a lifetime through South America," the statement read.

'Kurt was a professional, highly respected and dedicated member of the ACT Government team who will be sorely missed and impossible to replace."

The Department of Foreign Affairs earlier confirmed one Australian had been killed and another injured when a bus filled with foreign tourists crashed in Bolivia.

Overall nine people were killed and 24 injured when the bus overturned coming back from a visit to Bolivia’s famed Salar de Uyuni salt flats.

The bus, which had set out from Uyuni, stopped in Potosi en route to La Paz, "was carrying about 35 people mostly foreigners such as Egyptians, Italians and Brazilians," Oruro transit police officer Arturo Gutierrez told Radio Erbol.

Two Germans and a Chilean were also among those seriously injured, he added.

San Juan de Dios Hospital in Oruro said some people were treated and released, but did not immediately provide numbers or nationalities.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has released a statement confirming "consular officials are providing assistance to an Australian injured in a bus crash in Bolivia and to the family of an Australian who was killed in the same incident".

Additional reporting by AFP.