Fourteen people were killed and three others sustained critical injuries in a jeep accident in Baglung district on Tuesday. One passenger has gone missing.

There were 18 people on board the jeep, police said.

According to DSP Jhabindra Prasad Bhattarai, the jeep (Ga 1 Kha 5219), heading towards Baglung from Ishma of Gulmi district, skidded off the road near Bhimgithe and plunged 200 metres into the Badigadh stream.

Among the 14 dead, nine were female, said Bhattarai, informing that most of the passengers were travelling to Devisthan to offer prayers to their family deity.

Police suspect that loading the vehicle beyond its capacity might be the cause of the accident. “The critically injured people were airlifted to Kathmandu in a helicopter for treatment,” said Superintendent of Police Nawaraj Bhatta.

Dinesh Sharma, an eyewitness, said that most of the passengers died on the spot.

“It was difficult to retrieve bodies from the incident site due to the difficult terrain. Most of the bodies were found mutilated,” Sharma said.

The incident site is 80km from Baglung Bazaar, the district headquarters.