MUZAFFARABAD, Aug 5 At least 21 people, several women and children among them, were killed and 14 others injured when a Muzaffarabad-bound bus fell into River Jhelum near here on Thursday.

About 15 people were reported missing.

Officials said the 36-seat bus, coming from the border village of Chakothi, was overloaded and a number of people were sitting on the roof.

The driver lost control near the village of Bhadiyara, 24km from here, while overtaking a vehicle on a bumpy patch of the Jhelum valley road, witnesses said.

“The bus plunged into the swollen river and only its rear tyres were visible on the surface,” one of them said.

Hundreds of people from nearby areas, later joined by police, troops and volunteers, took part in rescue work, retrieving some bodies. The wreckage of the bus was pulled out by an army crane.

Except two girls, all people on the bus were killed or injured. Two people have been hospitalised and the rest were sent home after first aid.

AJK Prime Minister Sardar Attique Ahmed Khan visited the place of the accident and announced a compensation of Rs50,000 for dependants of each deceased person and Rs25,000 for each injured.