Nepal bus accident: British national among 19 killed, says report

Bus plunges 200 metres in Nepal's Dhading district, killing 19 including a British national; 25 injured in crash en route to Kathmandu

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

A spokesperson for Britain's Foreign Office said the government was supporting the family of the British man who died in the accident and was in contact with the local authorities. 

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.