SRINAGAR, Jan 20: At least 53 people were killed on Friday and 15 others injured when an overcrowded bus skidded off a slippery mountain road and plunged into a gorge in occupied Kashmir, police said.

The bus, which was carrying around 70 passengers, hurtled into the 400-foot gorge after the driver lost control of the vehicle on a hairpin mountain curve in southern Rajouri district.

“We have recovered 53 bodies so far from the wreckage,” a police official said, adding the death toll was likely to rise.

Dozens of volunteers armed with shovels, ropes and axes helped police and other rescuers as they battled to free victims from the mangled wreckage amid icy winter conditions in the region. Rescuers pulled 15 survivors from the bus, nine of whom were in critical condition, the official said.

“The critical ones are being sent to Jammu for treatment,” the official said.

Indian soldiers brought in sniffer dogs to help find victims.

The bus only had 50 seats but a police spokesman said it was carrying around 70 passengers when the accident took place 490 kilometres south of Srinagar.

The bus was headed to Rajouri town from Darihal village when it veered off the road.—AFP