LUCKNOW, India - At least 15 people died and 20 were injured after a bus fell into a deep gorge in the north Indian state of Uttarakhand on Monday, an official told Reuters.

       The bus was coming from Garhwal in the north and was headed to Ramnagar, with at least 42 passengers on board, Devendra Pincha, a local police officer told Reuters by phone.

       The death toll is likely to rise as the condition of a few of the survivors is critical, he said.

       Visuals from ANI news agency, in which Reuters has a minority stake, showed an overturned bus lying beside a river at the base of a hill.

       State Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said rescue officials were working rapidly to evacuate the injured. REUTERS