New Delhi, May 1 -- Twenty people were killed on Thursday when a jeep carrying pilgrims skidded off a hilly road and plunged about 700 metres into a gorge in Nepal's Rolpa district, police said.

The accident occurred in the Jaljala area of Thawang rural municipality when the vehicle slipped on a muddy stretch amid rain and fell down the hillside, they said.

According to police, 20 people died in the accident.

The private jeep was hired by locals travelling to attend the Baisakh Purnima festival on Friday at Jaljala, according to police inspector Sunil Thapa Nepali, information officer at the District Police Office, Rolpa.

Rescue operations are hampered by heavy rain in the area, police said, adding that the exact number of passengers ...