At least seven people were killed and many injured on Monday when a bus fell into a deep gorge in Uttarakhand’s Almora district, a senior official said.

The bus was going from Garhwal to Kumaon when the accident took place at Marchula in Almora, District Magistrate Alok Kumar Pandey said. So far seven deaths have been reported, he said.

The casualties may go up as there were around 40 passengers in the bus when it fell into a 200-metre deep gorge, Pandey said. Police and SDRF personnel have reached the spot to launch a search and rescue operation, he said.