27 dead after Indian passenger bus veers off road in Nepal

Twenty-seven people were killed and 16 others injured after an Indian passenger bus with 43 aboard skidded off the road in Nepal on Friday, a Nepali official said, reported Xinhua.

All the injured have been airlifted to Kathmandu for treatment, said Janardan Gautam, chief district officer of Tanahun district where the accident happened.

"Preparations are being made to send the bodies to Pokhara for autopsy," he told Xinhua.

The bus fell into the bank of the Marsyangdi River at Tanahun's Aanbookhaireni as a huge stone stopped it from falling further, said Deepak Kumar Raya, spokesman for the district police.

He told Xinhua that the accident occurred when the bus was heading to Kathmandu from Pokhara, a popular tourist attraction in Nepal.

Driving becomes more difficult and dangerous in mountainous Nepal during the monsoon season which started in June.