BAITADI: The injury toll has risen to 20 after a passenger bus en route from Dhangadhi to Baitadi plunged approximately 100 meters off the road at Gairakhan in Patan Municipality-8 on Friday afternoon.

According to the District Police Office, three passengers sustained critical head injuries, identified as 31-year-old Deepak BK, an unidentified 60-year-old man, and an unidentified 55-year-old woman.

Nine of the injured are currently receiving treatment at Dadeldhura Hospital, two have been referred to Dhangadhi, and the remaining nine are being transported to Dadeldhura, while the cause of the crash remains under investigation.