An overcrowded bus drove off a mountain highway and crashed in a river in Nepal, killing 17 people and injuring 50 more, according to a police official.
The bus skidded off the road in Sindhupalchowk district, northwest of the capital Kathmandu, and plunged 50 metres (165 feet) down into the Sunkosi River.
The bus was packed with people returning from festivities and appeared to have a mechanical problem before skidding off the highway.
A policeman Madhav Kafle said passengers heard a loud sound and the steering appeared to have failed before the bus drove off the highway and crashed in the Sunkoshi River .
Local rafters assisted the police and the army to scour the river and rescue any survivors, but some passengers are still feared missing.
“The number of missing is unknown as the bus had no record of the total number of passengers,” district official Doma Chemjong said
Deadly crashes are relatively common in the impoverished Himalayan nation because of poor roads, badly maintained vehicles and reckless driving.
