'The whole mountain came crashing down'

At least eighteen people were killed in Bilaspur district of India's Himachal Pradesh when boulders came crashing down on a passenger bus during landslides triggered by heavy rain yesterday.

PTI, citing officials, reported that 18 bodies have been recovered so far from the mangled remains of the bus in Balughat area of Jhanduta subdivision in Bilaspur.

The bus carrying 30-35 passengers was travelling from Rohtak in Haryana.

Police officials said the accident took place at about 6:30pm when the landslide hit the bus.

A police official engaged in rescue operations said there were slim chances of survival as "the whole mountain came crashing down on it [the bus]".

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu took to X to express grief and said he has directed the officials to expedite the rescue operations, an official statement said.