Superintendent of Police Rudraprayag V P Singh said the incident occurred at Naulib and area in the district on Monday night when the bus was on its way from Ghaingharkhaal village.

As the bus reached Nauliband, the driver saw some landslides on the road and parked the vehicle on the roadside and asked some youths to remove the boulders from the road.

As the boulders were being removed, the bund of the road suddenly caved in due to which the bus lost its balance and fell into the 600 feet deep khud, Singh said while 13 people including a girl died on the spot, five others succumbed to their injuries on the way to hospital, he said, adding the remaining injured have been taken to Srinagar based-hospital.

Singh said the timely intervention of police saved several lives as it managed to extricate the injured and providing them timely medical aid.

Chief Minister B C Khanduri has expressed grief over the incident and directed the District Magistrate to immediately provide compensation of Rs 50,000 to next of kin of the deceased, Rs 20,000 to those seriously injured and Rs 5,000 to those who suffered minor injuries.