At least 18 people were killed when an overcrowded bus fell into Bagdi river in Madhya Pradesh's Dewas district, police said, adding that more than 30 passengers are still missing.

The accident took place late Wednesday when a private bus, on its way to Indore via Chapra from Nemawar, with around 80 passengers on board skidded off and fell into the overflowing Bagdi river at Khategaon village.

'Eighteen bodies have been recovered but more than 30 people are still missing. We have deployed divers and rescue teams to reach the people who are believed to have been swept away by the river water,' Ujjain Commissioner T. Dharma Rao told IANS over phone.