As many as 21 people, including the son of Uttaranchal Congress President Harish Rawat, were killed and 26 others injured when a Nainital-bound bus fell into the dry bed of the Kosi river near Raipur early Wednesday morning.

The mishap occurred when the driver of the Uttaranchal Transport Corporation bus from Delhi lost control of the vehicle and it fell down from a bridge after breaking the railings into the Kosi at around 04:30 am, Superintendent of Police D C Mishra told PTI.

Those killed included the son of the state Congress chief and most of the deceased were from Uttaranchal, he said, adding the injured were rushed to the district hospital and were out of danger.

The passengers of the bus were pulled out of the vehicle after breaking the windows. Most passengers were asleep when the mishap took place. The vehicle, which lay in an upside down position, was being pulled out, Mishra said.

The driver and conductor of the bus were missing, he said.

Additional Superintendent of Police Sadhna Goswami said the driver of the bus might have been dozing which resulted in the mishap. Some of the passengers said he was driving the vehicle at a high speed.

Uttaranchal Chief Minister N D Tewari and Harish Rawat have rushed to the spot.