SHIMLA: A speeding bus on Tuesday swerved off a mountain road into a deep gorge in the Himalayan region of northern India, killing at least 18 people, police said.

Another 15 people were injured, three of them seriously, in the accident which occurred near Nathpa, some 175 kilometres from Shimla, the state capital of Himachal Pradesh.

“15 people died on the spot and three on their way to the hospital,” police superintendent Rahul Nath said.

“The bodies have been pulled out of the gorge and have been identified. The autopsy is being carried out on the spot and bodies are being handed over to their families,” he said.

Witnesses said the driver was speeding and appeared to have lost balance as he tried to overtake another vehicle on the narrow winding road.

India has the highest number of road accidents globally, with 137,000 recorded in 2013, the latest year for which official government figures are available. Transport analysts attribute the huge number of accidents to poor roads, ill-trained drivers and reckless driving.

Published in Dawn, September 2nd, 2015

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