Shimla, Jul 15 (IANS): Eight pilgrims, mostly from Kanpur city of Uttar Pradesh, were killed and 42 others injured when the private bus in which they were travelling rolled down a gorge in Himachal Pradesh, police said Sunday.

The pilgrims had returned from Amarnath in Jammu and Kashmir, and were on a visit to prominent Hindu shrines of this hill state.

The bus rolled into a 250-metre-deep gorge on the outskirts of Kangra town, 250 km from state capital Shimla, around 10 p.m. Saturday, police officer Mulk Raj told IANS on phone.

The dead were six men and two women. The injured were admitted to Rajendra Prasad Medical College and Hospital in Tanda, 30 km from the accident spot.

"They were travelling from Chamunda Devi temple to Jwalaji temple," he said, adding that the cause of the accident was yet to be ascertained.

Both prominent Hindu shrines are located in Kangra district.

It took hours for rescuers and police to climb down the mountain and bring up the bodies. Even the heavy rainfall in the region hampered the rescue operation, police officials said.