NEW DELHI, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- At least nine people were killed and five others injured Friday after a mini-bus they were travelling in skidded off mountainous road and fell into a gorge in northern Indian state of Uttarakhand, officials said.

The accident took place near Maneri town in Uttarkashi district, about 158 km north of Dehradun, the capital city of Uttarakhand.

"This evening in a tragic road accident, a tempo traveller (mini-bus) carrying Hindu pilgrims skidded off the road on Gangotri highway and fell into deep gorge here," a police official posted in Uttarkashi said.

According to police, the passengers in the ill-fated vehicle were returning after offering prayers at the Himalayan shrine of Gangotri.

Following the accident, locals informed police, who along with disaster response force personnel, rushed to the spot to carry rescue work of removing the injured to the hospital and retrieving bodies from the gorge.

Disaster management officials said the victims were identified as residents of western Gujarat state.

The cause of accident was not immediately known.

Deadly road accidents are common in India, often caused by overloading, bad condition of roads and reckless driving. Officials say on an average, over 400 deaths take place every day in India due to road accidents.