KATHMANDU: A passenger bus fell from a hilly road in west Nepal before dawn on Monday, killing 19 people including a British national, police said.
Only nine of the dead have been identified so far, they said, adding that the bus was carrying 44 people in all.
A New Zealander and a Chinese national were among the 25 injured when the bus headed to the Nepali capital, Kathmandu, from the tourist town of Pokhara fell 200 metres (650 feet) from the road at Behighat in Dhading district into the Trishuli River, 80 kilometres (50 miles) west of Kathmandu, a police statement said.
The injured are being treated at hospitals in Kathmandu, it added.
Mohan Prasad Neupane, information officer at the district administration office, said the rescue operation had been completed by dawn.
Road accidents are common in mostly mountainous Nepal where the conditions of roads are poor.
Hundreds die in road crashes in Nepal annually.
In July 2024, two buses with more than 50 people on board were swept off the highway into the same river after a landslide.
Deadly crashes are relatively common in the Himalayan republic because of poor roads, badly maintained vehicles and reckless driving.
