19 people killed after passenger bus crashed in Nepal

At least 19 people were killed and 25 injured after a passenger bus sped off a mountain highway and plunged down a steep slope into the Trishuli River valley in central Nepal.

According to district police, the bus was travelling from the city of Pokhara to the capital, Kathmandu, when it lost control shortly after midnight along the Prithvi Highway near Benighat, about 80 kilometres west of Kathmandu.

Authorities said dozens of passengers were on board when the vehicle skid off the road and tumbled hundreds of metres down the mountainside before coming to rest on the riverbank.

Rescue teams from the Nepali Army and police rushed to the scene overnight, pulling survivors from the wreckage and transporting the injured to nearby hospitals. However, nighttime conditions and the rugged terrain made the rescue operation difficult.

Police confirmed that only some victims had been identified so far, meanwhile investigations into the cause of the crash are ongoing.