The incident occurred in Nepal on Saturday, March 14

The wreckage of a bus that slipped off a mountain road and rolled down a slope sits at Shahid Lakhan village, west of the capital Kathmandu, Nepal, Sunday, March 15, 2026.

The wreckage of a bus that slipped off a mountain road in Nepal on March 14.Credit : Binod Shrestha/AP Photo

 

Seven people are dead and multiple others are injured following a bus crash in Nepal.

On Saturday, March 14, a bus carrying more than a dozen people veered off the road and plunged down a steep hillside in the Gorkha District, the Associated Press and regional outlet The Sunday Guardian reported.

Five men and two women died in the crash, the Indian newspaper Hindustan Times reported, citing Gorkha District Police Office Chief Bharat Bahadur BK. They have been identified as Tamilarsi, 60, Meenakshi, 59, Muthu Kumar, 58, Anamalik, 58, Meena, 58, Vijayal, 57, and Sivagami, 53.

At least seven Indian pilgrims were also injured in the incident, alongside the wounded bus driver and his assistant, per AP. Emergency responders retrieved the injured from the wreckage and rushed them to the hospital. The extent of their injuries is currently unknown.

Nepalese people look down at the wreckage of a bus that slipped off a mountain road and rolled down a slope at Shahid Lakhan village, about 120 kilometers (75 miles) west of the capital Kathmandu, Nepal, Sunday, March 15, 2026.

The wreckage of a bus that slipped off a mountain road at Shahid Lakhan village in Nepal on March 14.Binod Shrestha/AP Photo

Local authorities have stated that the bus was traveling along a mountainous route, after returning from the popular Manakamana Hindui Temple, when the crash occurred, per The Sunday Guardian.

Chief District Officer Tulasi Bahadur Shrestha told the outlet, “The microbus was heading towards the Anbukhaireni area of Tanahun district, west of the Manakamana Temple, but it is not immediately clear where the passengers were heading after concluding their visit to the temple.”

The bus was going downhill on a path from the highway to the temple near Shahid Lakhan village, located around 75 miles west of the capital, Kathmandu, when it crashed and fell 500 feet down the mountainside into a ravine, AP reported.

People making offerings at Manakamana Temple, Mugling, Nepal.

Manakamana Temple in Mugling, Nepal.Sergi Reboredo/VWPics/Universal Images Group via Getty

Officials have alleged that the bus “lost control” on a curve during its downhill journey, per The Sunday Guardian.  However, the police said it remains “unclear” exactly what caused the crash.

Investigators are assessing the vehicle’s speed, possible mechanical issues, and the conditions of the road as possible factors in determining what caused the crash, The Sunday Guardian reported.

PEOPLE has contacted the Nepal Police and Chief District Officer Shrestha for comment.