MUZAFFARABAD, March 26: Nine people, including three women, were killed and 11 others seriously injured when a passenger bus plunged into a ditch in the southern Kotli district of Azad Kashmir on Wednesday, police said.

The accident occurred at 11.30am when the vehicle (AJKE-5477), which was going to Nakyal from Khuiratta, veered off the road while negotiating a sharp curve near Karela Majhan village, a police official told Dawn by telephone.

Eight people, identified as Mohammad Sadiq, Fazeelat, Akhtar Bibi, Abdul Hussain, Ishtiaq, Zahida Kosar, Khurshid and Raja Mahmood died on the spot while 12 others were critically injured.