Srinagar, India (CNN) -- Fifteen passengers were killed and 18 others injured when a bus carrying Hindu pilgrims crashed on a hilly highway in Indian-controlled Kashmir, officials said Sunday. The bus was heading to the city of Jammu when it skidded off the road and rolled down a steep gorge, said Anil Magotra, the district police chief. "The bus hurtled 35 to 40 meters, killing 15 passengers on the spot," Magotra said. "All the 18 injured passengers have been evacuated to Jammu for specialized treatment." The 33 Hindu people onboard were returning from a pilgrimage to the Himalayan cave shrine of Amarnath.
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A bus with 33 people onboard skids off a highway and rolls down a steep gorge
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15 passengers are killed and 18 others are injured, a police official says
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They were returning from a pilgrimage to the Himalayan cave shrine of Amarnath
Vehicle accidents are common on the winding 300-kilometer (185-mile) @placeholder national highway, which connects landlocked Kashmir to rest of India.