India bus accident kills 25

At least 25 people have been killed in northern India when a bus carrying pilgrims to a Himalayan shrine went out of control and plunged into a mountain river.

Police said the bus plunged into the Alaknanda river late on Saturday near the town of Vishnuprayag in Uttaranchal state, about 300 kilometres north-west of the capital Delhi.

Police said rescuers pulled a few survivors out of the river but the possibility of finding any more of the 32 passengers alive was remote.

The bus was on a narrow mountain road popular with Hindu pilgrims and tourists visiting the Badrinath mountaintop shrine, close to India's border with China.

Badrinath is one of the holiest Hindu shrines and is often called the "Gateway to Heaven".