At least 25 people were killed and 40 others injured, many of them critically, when a crowded passenger bus veered off a hilly road and plunged around 300 metres into a gorge in western Nepal today.
Twenty five bodies have been recovered so far from the accident site, a police official told PTI over phone. The cause of the accident is being ascertained.
The incident took place when the bus carrying nearly 100 people was heading towards Dhangadhi from Doti fell around 300 metres down the hilly road at Chhatiwan village development area in Doti district, some 700-kilometre west of Kathmandu, the police said.
Most of the passengers were heading to meet their families to celebrate the Dussehra festival known as Dashain in Nepal.
The injured were rushed to a hospital where at least 25 of them were said to be in a critical condition and officials fear the death toll may rise further.
The deceased have not been identified yet.
Police, Army and local people have been mobilised for carrying out rescue and relief works, local authorities said.
