At least 14 people have been killed after an overcrowded bus slipped off a mountain road and fell 980ft in Nepal.

The vehicle was carrying passengers on the roof as well as inside, according to one official.

The area the bus was driving through was said to have been covered in mud from a landslide when the accident happened.

The vehicle plunged off the road near Lapang Phedi village, 120km west of the capital, and ended up on the banks of the Ankhu River.

At least nine people were injured in the crash who were being flown by helicopter to hospital, where friends and relatives wait for news.

There was a particularly large number of passengers on the bus, who were all Nepali nationals, as people are travelling home for the most important Hindu festival in Nepal, Dashain which begins on Saturday.

Road accidents in the Himalayan country are blamed mainly on poorly maintained roads and vehicles.