At least 30 passengers were killed and as many injured when an over-crowded bus rolled down into a gorge near Haripur in Himachal Pradesh's Kangra district on Friday.

The accident took place around 10 am when the driver lost control over the vehicle while negotiating a turn and the bus fell into the 100-feet deep gorge from a road bridge on Baner Khud.

The bus, on way to Dehra from Nagrota Suriyan in the district, had hardly travelled half-a-km from the Guler railway station when the mishap took place.

The injured have been sent to Dr Rajendra Prasad government Medical College Tanda, Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Dehra, Rakesh Sharma said from the accident site, about 45 km from Dharamshala.

Six of the injured area in a critical condition. Thirty bodies have been found. The dead included the conductor of the bus.

According to eyewitnesses, the 32-seater bus was jam-packed with many people boarding the vehicle at Guler station after alighting from Pathankot-Jogindernagar toy train.

As news of the mishap spread, principal of a nearly government school along with teachers and students rushed to the accident site to help the victims.