A person died and 26 others injured when a passenger bus skidded off the road and plunged at Kalikhola in Chandibhanjyang-6 of Narayangad-Mugling road stretch in the wee hours of Tuesday morning.

The bus (Na 4 Kha) bound for Sarlahi from Kathmandu tumbled some 100 meters down the road and crashed into the bank of Trishuli River.

According to SP at District Police Office Chitwan, Deepak Thapa, the vehicle carrying 23 passengers and four bus staff met with the accident at around 12:45 am on Tuesday. The deceased has been identified as Dharma Raj Mandal, 33, of Laxmipur, Siraha.

A rescue team led by SP Thapa reached the incident site immediately after the accident. The injured passengers have been receiving treatment Chitwan Medical College.  Three of the injured passengers are said to be critical.

The cause of the accident has not been known. The vehicular movement on the road was obstructed for about an hour after the accident. Area Police Office Mugling, Armed Police Force personnel from Disaster Managment Training Center, Kurintar and a team of District Police Office rescued the passengers.

Chief District Office Narayan Prasad Bhatta visited the accident site this morning.

The place is considered one of the most accident-prone areas along the road.  Earlier, a bus heading for Pokhara from Gaur had plunged into Trishuli River at the place, killing 27 people.