At least 17 people were killed and 45 others injured when a passenger bus veered off the road and fell into a waterbody in Bangladesh's Jhalokati district, a senior police official said. The passenger bus fell into the roadside waterbody in the district about 200 km south of the capital Dhaka on Saturday morning, leaving 13 passengers dead on the spot, Muhammed Afruzul Huqe Tutul, the district's police chief, told Xinhua news agency.

All the injured were taken to local hospitals and clinics, where four more died, said the officer. He added the death toll might rise as some of the injured passengers were rescued in critical conditions, Xinhua news agency reported. The accident occurred as the driver lost control of the vehicle and plunged into the roadside waterbody, according to the official.