An overcrowded mini lorry overturned at Bhainse in Sindhupalchok on Monday, leaving one person dead and at least 24 others injured.

Police said the Bahrabise-bound lorry (Ba 4 Kha 9017) from Yanlakot was carrying 25 people when it keeled over at Bhainse.

Lute Tamang, 36, of Jitpur Sub-metropolis, Bara, died on the spot. Twenty-four people were injured, nine of them critically.

Superintendent of Police Mukunda Marasini said the seriously wounded passengers were taken to Kathmandu and the others were undergoing treatment at a health facility in Khadichaur. The lorry driver is at large, he added.

Police suspect that over-speeding and overcrowding might have caused the vehicle to overturn.

In a separate incident, a man died when a scooter crashed with an oncoming tractor at Mujeliya along the Janakpur-Dhalkebar road on Monday morning.

According to Dhanusha District Traffic Police Office, scooterist Sandip Nayak, 32, of Janakpur Sub Metropolis-10 died on the way to hospital. Pillion rider Rakesh Sah was injured in the crash.