MUZAFFARABAD, Dec 20: At least 23 people, including women and children, were killed and more than 30 injured when an overloaded passenger bus veered off the road, fell about 150 feet down and hit rocky bank of the Jhelum river in Chakothi sector on Tuesday.

The ill-fated Muzaffarabad bound bus was coming from Pahal village located along the Line of Control. It met the accident at about 10:15 a.m. on the outskirts of Chinari, some 51 kilometres south of here, police said.

Eye-witnesses said the vehicle was overloaded and some of the passengers were sitting on its roof and clinging to rear ladders.

“While negotiating a narrow turn on the dilapidated road, the driver reversed the vehicle which veered off the road and hit the right bank of the river some 150 feet down,” local resident Waheed Kiani told Dawn. He said some of those sitting on the roof or clinging to the ladders probably fell into the river and were swept away.

Police also were of the view that three to four persons had drowned.

Those who died on the spot were identified as Chabbi Begum and Abdul Ghafoor of Kali Gabbar; Mohammad Hussain of Bandi Chakkan; Bashir Ahmed Kiani, Ajaib Khan Kiani, Mohammad Khan Kiani and Altaf Kiani of Tilikot; Mehboob Shah, Ayub Shah, Mutwalli Khan, Mohammad Bashir, Malik Arif, Robina Bibi and her 13-month-old daughter and Kadeer Ali of Gojar Bandi; Raja Begum of Pahal; Abdur Rasheed of Dwartha and Tariq Chaudhry and Mohammad Asif of Mera Bakot.

Two-year old girl Mehma and two men Mohammad Hanif and Mohammad Younas, both of Kali Gabbar, died on way to or in the Abbas Institute of Medical Sciences in Muzaffarabad, police said. Critically injured people were airlifted to Muzaffarabad, whereas the rest were provided treatment in the hospital of Hattian Bala.

APP adds: Police said so far 20 bodies had been recovered from the site and it was feared that another three passengers had been swept away by the strong waves of the Jhelum river.