New Delhi: Police say 14 people were killed when a bus plunged into a gorge in northern India.

Senior police official Mahinder Tamta says nine others were injured in Friday's accident, five of them seriously.

He says the accident took place near Pauri town in Uttarakhand state, about 230 kilometres northeast of New Delhi.

Tamta says the bus was carrying 23 people to work when the driver failed to negotiate a sharp curve and the bus plunged into the gorge which was over 100 metres deep.

The driver was among those killed says Tamta.

Such accidents are frequent in the hill state, where reckless driving, poor roads and aging, overcrowded vehicles are common.