Kolhapur, January 27: 13 people died and three others were injured after a minibus carrying 16 passengers fell into Panchganga river in Maharashtra's Kolhapur on the intervening night of Friday and Saturday. All the commuters hailed from Pune.

The accident took place at around 11:45 pm on the Shivaji Bridge when the driver lost control of the vehicle in Kolhapur, over 300 km from Mumbai, the police said. The bus was travelling from the coastal city of Ratnagiri to Kolhapur. According to local officials, many were also feared missing in the accident that took place in Panchganga river at about midnight.

Police have reached the spot and search and rescue operations have been launched. The initial reports stated eleven people died on the spot and out of 3 who were seriously injured, one died later.