Nepal: 36 killed as bus falls in ravine

Kathmandu: At least 36 people were killed and 34 injured when a packed bus plunged into a ravine in western Nepal on Saturday, police said.

The bus was on a mountainous road in Sallyan district, 270 km west of Kathmandu at the time of the accident.

"Rescuers have reached the site and have recovered 32 bodies so far," a police officer told Reuters.

Four wounded later died. Witnesses at the hospital where the injured were taken said many of the wounded were women and children.

Hundreds of people are killed in road accidents every year in the impoverished Himalayan nation which has 17,000 km of poorly maintained roads.