Dhaka: At least 17 people were killed and more than a dozen injured after a passenger bus veered off the road and rolled into a large roadside pond in southwestern Bangladesh on Saturday.

The accident took place in the Jhalakathi district when the bus carrying over 60 passengers was on its way to Barishal, southwestern divisional headquarters, from Bhandaria sub-district, police said.

The vehicle fell into the pond after its driver lost control of the wheel.

“The divers have rescued 17 bodies and a police crane is trying to retrieve the bus from the pond filled with water after heavy monsoon rains,” a police officer told reporters.

Police sub-inspector Gautamm Kumar Ghose said the dead included eight women and three children.

He feared more bodies could be found trapped inside the bus once the salvage campaign was completed.

Twenty other passengers are being treated at the Jhalakathi’s main state-run hospital.

It is believed that 65  passengers were inside the bus.

“I was sitting just beside the driver’s seat. The driver apparently was not careful or attentive while driving the bus,” said Russell Mollah, a 35-year passenger who was injured in the accident.

He said the driver was constantly talking to his assistant and asking him to get more passengers on board.

Mollah lost his 75-year-old father in the accident while his elder brother is still missing.

“The stomachs of patients we are treating contain excessive water as the bus plunged into the pond,” said a doctor at the health facility.