Nepal bus accident death toll rises to 18

The death toll from an accident where a bus carrying Hindu pilgrims veered off a mountain road and fell into a river in western Nepal has climbed to at least 18 people with another 17 injured, The Associated Press reported, citing police.

Police official Jay Bahadur Kathayat said the bus rolled about 100 meters (320 feet) before it plunged into the river on Monday near Lamachaur village, 400 kilometers (250 miles) east of the capital, Katmandu.

The official said some of the injured passengers who were taken to the hospital died overnight, raising the death toll to 18.

The dead bodies were still being identified, but police believe many of them were Indian nationals on a Hindu pilgrimage trip to a nearby famous Hindu pilgrimage site Swargadwari, which means gateway to heaven.

Police were investigating the cause of the crash but said the bus appeared to be overcrowded on a mountain road and there were also eyewitness accounts that the driver might have been using a cell phone while driving and lost control of the vehicle.

The villagers helped rescuers pull the dead and injured from the wreckage. The injured were transported to nearby hospitals for treatment.

Accidents in Nepal are often blamed on poorly maintained vehicles and roads.