At least 13 people were killed and 26 others injured when a bus slipped off a mountain road in Nepal and rolled down a hill for nearly 200m, a police official said.

Umesh Khadka said the bus plunged off the narrow gravel road near Barkhetar, 200km east of the capital, Kathmandu.

Police officers and residents from nearby villages rushed to the crash site but the wreckage was trapped between trees on a steep slope, making it difficult to pull out survivors.

An army rescue helicopter and soldiers were also heading to the scene.

Bus accidents are common in in mountainous Nepal and are generally blamed on poorly maintained vehicles and road conditions.

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