Shimla, May 21 (IANS): Thirteen people were killed when a private vehicle in which they were travelling fell into a gorge in Himachal Pradesh's Kinnaur district, police said on Saturday.

Superintendent of Police Khushal Sharma told IANS that 14 people were travelling in the Mahindra Bolero Camper vehicle when it fell into the gorge near Bhavnagar on Friday night.

The victims were returning from a marriage party, he said.

He said 12 people died on the spot and one on the way to the hospital.

According to police, the vehicle was overloaded with passengers at the time of the accident.

Eyewitnesses said the administration had a tough time in extracting the victims from the bus, though villagers started the rescue operations before the authorities reached the spot.

Most of the victims were from Bada Kamba village.

This was the second major accident in the state in less than 24 hours.

Seventeen people, including three women, were killed and 23 others injured when a private bus carrying 50 passengers fell into a gorge in Chamba district.

The bus was on its way from Sanghni to Dalhousie when the accident occurred.