British national among 19 killed in Nepal bus crash

Police say the bus was carrying 44 passengers at the time of the crash

Photo: Reuters

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, 80km (50 miles) west of Kathmandu, a police statement said.

The injured are being treated at hospitals in Kathmandu, it said.

Road accidents are common in mostly mountainous Nepal where the conditions of roads are poor. Hundreds die in road crashes in Nepal annually.