Nepal bus crash death toll reaches 47

Katmandu - Rescuers recovered 42 more bodies from the wreckage of a bus that plunged into a river in west Nepal raising the confirmed death toll to 47, police said on Monday.

Police said the bodies were recovered after the bus wreckage was pulled to the bank of the river on Sunday.

The bus crashed on Thursday into the Bheri river about 400km west of the capital, Katmandu, but it took days for rescuers to pull the wreckage out of the river.

Five bodies were recovered earlier while 10 other people on board the bus were able to swim to safety.

The bus was speeding on a narrow mountain road and plunged into the river when it tried to avoid crashing into a tractor. It took hours for rescuers to reach the rural road and divers struggled in the freezing water to pull out the wreckage.

Accidents in the Himalayan nation are often caused by poorly maintained vehicles and narrow roads.