Mukhtar Ahmad in Srinagar

At least 32 people were killed when a mini-bus skidded off a bridge and fell into the Chenab River in Doda district of Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday afternoon, sources said.

"Twenty-seven people were rescued from the spot and brought to hospital in Doda," the Chief Medical Officer of the district, Dr Ahsan Ahmed Kiloo, told rediff.com on phone.

The bus was on its way to Goha village, 25 km from Doda, when the driver lost control of the bus near Khilani village, police said.

Unconfirmed reports put the toll at 35.