SUNSARI: At least five people were killed and 12 others injured Sunday afternoon when a passenger bus crashed at Zero Point in Dharan, police said.

The accident occurred around 4:15 p.m. on the Koshi Highway in Dharan Metropolitan City–13, as the bus was traveling from Bhedetar toward Dharan. The vehicle, bearing the registration number Ko 1 Kha 7119 and marked “International Thames Academy,” lost control and veered off the road, according to police.

The bus slammed into a medical shop located in the shuttered section of the New Sabha building near the Shri Krishna Pranami Temple, said Sunsari District Police Chief Keshav Thebe. Five passengers died at the scene. Their identities had not been confirmed as of Sunday evening.

The injured were rushed to the BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences in Dharan, where they are undergoing treatment, police said.

A 20-member police team led by Dharan Deputy Superintendent of Police Bhishan Babu Rai is conducting rescue operations and investigating the cause of the crash.