Shimla, Aug 13 (IANS): At least nine people, including a child, were killed when a state-run bus rolled down from a hill in Himachal Pradesh's Chamba district on Thursday, police said.

The Himachal Road Transport Corp bus was on its way from Chamba town to Killar when the accident occurred near Tissa, around 100 km from the town. Eight people were injured.

Assistant Superintendent of Police Kulwant Thakur told IANS over the phone that the cause of the accident was not yet known.

The accident spot, some 550 km from here, is one of the remotest places in the state.

Survivors blamed the accident on a road damaged by a landslide.

"A portion of the road was damaged. As the driver was about to cross the landslide, he advised the passengers to get down. Most got off. As the driver was about the cross the road, it caved in and the bus skidded off the road," a survivor told police.

Most of the dead and the injured were from Chamba district. The dead included three women. The bus driver and the conductor sustained injuries.