At least 18 passengers were killed and 23 others injured when a bus skidded off a mountain road and plunged into a river in Indian Kashmir today.
The crash happened near Ramban, about 50 miles north of Jammu, winter capital of the revolt-torn state.
"It was a passenger bus on its way to Srinagar when its driver lost control near a bend and the bus rolled down into a river near Ramban", a police officer said.
"The bus fell nearly 300 feet down into the Chenab river," he added.
Srinagar is the summer capital of the disputed state which is also claimed by neighbour Pakistan.
"There are two or three bodies stuck under the vehicle," Abdul Rehman, a local resident, said.
Buses across the region often carry more people than they are allowed to.
In April, over 40 passengers were killed in the same district after a bus plummeted into the Chenab. Most bodies from that crash were never found and are believed to have been washed away by the rapid currents. The bus has not yet been retrieved.
