NEW DELHI (BNO NEWS), Sep 4: At least 15 people were killed on Sunday when a passenger bus plunged into a river in India's northwestern state of Uttarakhand, police said.

The bus was on its way from Katiyal area to state capital Dehradun when it fell into the Tons river as the driver was negotiating a sharp turn, according to Press Trust of India (PTI). District Magistrate Dehra Dun Sachin Kurve said 15 bodies have been recovered and 12 injured people have been rushed to nearby hospitals.

"As of now we believe there are still 8 persons who are missing in the accident," Kurve said. He added that the bus has not been located yet.

India is often the scene of deadly road accidents, many of which are attributed to reckless driving, aging vehicle and overloading. In new figures released last year, India overtook China to top the world in road fatalities.

According to India's National Crime Records Bureau, there were 126,896 deaths in 2009. This amount represented a 7.3 percent increase in comparison with 2008. Road accidents caused 37.9 percent of the country's deaths due to unnatural causes last year.