SHIMLA: An overcrowded bus plunged off a mountain road into a reservoir on Wednesday in a Himalayan region in northern India, killing 23 people, a state official said.

Authorities and divers searched for more bodies, fearing the death toll could rise as many passengers were riding on the roof of the 40-seat bus when it rolled down into the Gobind Sagar reservoir in the state of Himachal Pradesh.

“So far 23 have been killed and 14 injured,” Ajay Sharma, a top local administrator, told AFP.

Senior police officer Ashok Kumar said that the bus had been “fished out of the water” after the accident, which occurred some 100 kilometres (60 miles) from state capital Shimla.

India has the highest number of road accidents globally, with 138,000 recorded in 2012, 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.

The national government has recently put forward proposals for new legislation to make India's roads safer by stiffening lax traffic regulations.