KATMANDU, Nepal - Soldiers, police and villagers recovered another 19 bodies Tuesday from a mountain river in west Nepal where a bus crashed a day earlier, officials said. The death toll hit 36 and was expected to rise.
"There are still many more bodies trapped in the wreckage. We have been able to pull out only part of the bus from the water," police official Navraj Thapa said by telephone.
Fresh rain was hampering the recovery operations, with the mountain river already flooded and murky with a fast-moving current.
The overcrowded bus was mostly carrying Buddhist pilgrims to a religious fair when it crashed Monday near Bhaluwang town, about 250 miles (400 kilometers) southwest of the capital, Katmandu, and plunged into the Rapti river.
Rescuers managed to save 38 passengers and found 17 bodies Monday, police chief Deepak Kumar Thapa said.
Police were still investigating what caused the crash.
Accidents in Nepal are often caused by poorly maintained roads and overcrowded vehicles. Thapa said most of the survivors were able to escape because they were on the roof, a common practice. - AP