A bus veered off a highway and plunged into a river in northeast Nepal on Thursday, killing at least five people and leaving about two dozen missing and feared drowned, officials said.
Premed Kharel, the police chief for the area about 100 miles (160 kilometers) northeast of Katmandu, said the bus was believed to have had about 35 people on board when it crashed.
Rescuers pulled five bodies from the river and villagers reported seeing about five more bodies being washed downstream, he said. At least four people were rescued, chief government administrator Bhanu Bhakta Pokhrel said, adding that police and soldiers were searching the river for other survivors.
Police were investigating the cause of the accident, Kharel said. Traffic accidents are common in Nepal, where roads and vehicles are poorly maintained and the roads are slippery during the monsoon season.