SHIMLA (AFP) - At least 28 people were killed on Thursday (July 20) after a bus plunged into a deep gorge in a Himalayan region of northern India popular with tourists, police said.

The accident occurred around 100km from the hill resort of Shimla in Himachal Pradesh state, said police superintendent Soumiya Sambasivan.

"Twenty-eight people have died and seven are injured. All the bodies have been identified," she said.

The bus was taking about 40 people from Kinnaur district towards Solan when it rolled roughly 200m down a gorge to the banks of a river.

Images from the scene showed emergency workers conducting a rescue operation with the help of local volunteers.

Last week, 16 pilgrims died in a bus crash in neighbouring Jammu and Kashmir state, while in April, 44 people were killed in Himachal Pradesh in a similar accident.

India has some of the world's highest traffic fatalities with more than 150,000 deaths annually due to poor roads, badly maintained vehicles and reckless driving.