At least 15 Hindu pilgrims were killed and 17 others injured after a passenger bus they were traveling in fell into a deep gorge in Indian-controlled Kashmir, officials said Sunday.

The accident took place Saturday night near Digdol in Ramban district, around 160-km south of Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir.

"In a tragic road accident today on Saturday at 11:10 in night, 15 people were killed and 17 others were injured after the bus carrying them fell into deep gorge," said a police official posted in Ramban. "All the people on board were Hindu pilgrims."

According to officials, the ill-fated bus bearing registration number JK02Y-0382 was on the way from Srinagar to Jammu, when it skidded off the road near Digdol.

"Soon after we came to know about the accident, a police party was sent to the spot for rescue work," the official said.

India's official broadcaster All India Radio (AIR) Sunday said 10 persons were killed on spot, four others succumbed to their injuries on way to hospital and another one breathed last at hospital.

Preliminary investigations suggest the accident was caused by negligence of the driver, police said.

Officials said 32 people were traveling in bus when the accident took place. The injured were rushed to district hospital Ramban and critical ones were referred to Government Medical College, Jammu hospital.

Deadly road accidents are common in this mountainous region often caused by overloading, bad road conditions and reckless driving.

According to traffic department officials, at least 1,120 people were killed and 10,108 others injured in 6,644 road accidents across Indian-controlled Kashmir last year.

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