MUZAFFARABAD, April 20: At least five people, including a woman, were killed and 16 others injured when a passenger bus they were traveling in veered off the narrow hilly road and plunged into a ravine, police said.

The accident occurred at about 7:30am on Friday shortly after the Muzaffarabad-bound bus left the Balgran village, some 45 kilometres northwest of here, allegedly due to negligence of the driver who was also killed, police officer Zahur Gilani said.

A witness said that many passengers were tossed out of the ill fated vehicle before it finally struck the ravine, hundreds of feet down the hilly road.

Four people died on the spot and 17 others were wounded of whom one succumbed to his wounds on way to the hospital here. Some TV channels, however, put the death toll at six.

Police identified the deceased as Suleman, Maroofi Begum, Ghulam Mustafa, Hassam Deen and Aftab Shah (driver). Doctors said that some of the injured people, including three women, were in critical condition.