Eighteen die as bus rolls into gorge in Himachal

At least 18 people were killed Friday and an equal number injured when a private bus carrying passengers skidded off the road and fell into a 500-foot deep gorge in Himachal Pradesh's Sirmaur district, police said.

Eighteen bodies have been recovered, Superintendent of Police Sumedha Diwedi told IANS on phone.

The bus was carrying at least 35 passengers on board at the time of the accident, and many have been injured. The police officer said the injured were being treated at hospitals in Rajgarh and Solan towns.

The bus, ferrying passengers from Punardhar to Solan town, met with the accident near Bharari village in Sangrah subdivision, some 130 km from district headquarters Nahan.

Sirmaur is one of remotest places in the state. Buses plying there have poor frequency, and the scarcity of means of transport often leads of overcrowding of vehicles.