At least 16 persons have been killed and an estimated two dozen others injured when a passenger bus skidded off the road and fell into a gorge in Hansapur of Arghakhanchi district in western Nepal Sunday morning.

Police have said the number of dead could increase further as many passengers are still trapped inside the bus.

Although police have reached the site for rescue, they have not been able to reach the place where the bus is trapped due to the extreme difficulty of the landscape.

The recovered 16 bodies are those that had fallen off the bus through the door and the windows as it was falling off.

The bus has been trapped some 300 meters below the road, some 215 km west of capital Kathmandu.

It is estimated about 40 passengers were traveling in the bus.