KATHMANDU (TIP): At least 18 Indian pilgrims were killed and 53 others injured when an overloaded bus carrying them veered off a mountain road and rolled about 100m before plunging into a river in Nepal, officials said on Tuesday. “All 18 people who died in the accident were Indian nationals, mostly from Uttar Pradesh,” chief district administrator Ram Bahadur Purumbang said. A total of 56 people were injured in the accident when the bus plunged into the Madi river in Pyuthan district, 750km west of Kathmandu on Monday night.

There were 74 passengers and all except three people —the bus driver, his helper and a lady — were Indian nationals who were returning from a Hindu pilgrimage in Swargadwari, Purumbang said. Fifteen died on the spot and three breathed their last while undergoing treatment at a local hospital, he said.