SRINAGAR: At least 25 people were killed in Indian Kashmir when an overcrowded minibus skidded off a mountain road and plunged into a fast-flowing river, police said Saturday.

The accident occurred late Friday in Kishtiwar district, south of the summer capital Srinagar.

"Twenty-five people are dead," a police spokesman said, adding two people were hospitalised after they jumped out of the bus.

"The bus plunged into flooded Chenab river and disappeared," the spokesman said.

Bus accidents are common in the area because of a combination of bad roads, congestion and poor maintenance of vehicles.

BDST: 1157 HRS, July 24, 2010