Story highlights Overcrowding on the bus may have led to the crash, official says

Overcrowding on the bus may have led to the crash, official says Thirty-eight passengers also were injured, authorities say

(CNN) At least 33 people were killed Monday when a passenger bus skidded off the road and plunged down a hill in Nepal's Kavrepalanchok district, authorities said.

Thirty-eight passengers were injured, Chief District Officer Bal Krishna Panthi told CNN. They were airlifted to Nepal's capital, Kathmandu, 70 kilometers (44 miles) away, by an army team, Deputy Chief District Officer Bhim Kanta Sharma said.

A helicopter lifts off from the mountainous site of a bus crash in Nepal.

Twenty-seven bodies have been identified, and search operations have ended because rescuers think all the victims have been found, authorities said.

"Bodies are scattered all over the sloppy hill, so security personnel are having difficulties collecting bodies and rescuing the victims," Sharma said.

The bus fell more than 300 meters (about 985 feet) down the hill.

Read More