Twenty-five others were injured when the bus fell into the 50-metre (165-foot) gorge, 80 kilometres (49 miles) from Dehradun, capital of the state of Uttarakhand, state disaster management minister Yashpal Arya told AFP.[break]
"It was trying to overtake a private vehicle when it skidded off the road and fell into the gorge," Arya said.
He said a total of 52 people were on board the bus.
The accident occurred two days after 29 Hindu devotees were killed when their truck collided head-on with another vehicle in the northern state of Haryana as they returned from a shrine.
India has the highest annual road death toll in the world, according to a 2009 World Health Organization report, with accidents caused by speeding, careless driving and poor roads.
Related story
Truck and bus collide in northern India, killing 22
