Idukki: Three people, including a woman, were killed and several others injured when a state-owned KSRTC bus plunged into a gorge near Pullupara in this hill district early on Monday, police said.

The bus carrying 34 passengers was returning to Mavelikara in Alappuzha district after a trip to Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu, when the incident occurred around 6 am, they said.

The bodies of the deceased have been shifted to a private hospital in Mundakayam, and will be handed over to the relatives after the postmortem, they added.

Police and Fire and Rescue Services personnel were promptly deployed to carry out rescue operations, officers said.