At least 22 people were killed and several others critically injured when a Tripura-bound bus fell into a deep gorge in Meghalaya's East Jaintia hills district in the wee hours of Wednesday.

The incident took place sometime between 3am and 5 am at Tamseng village near Meghalaya-Aassam border.

The bus was on its way to Agartala from Guwahati when it fell into the 80-feet deep gorge.

"We have been able to retrieve 22 bodies even as six critically injured persons were shifted to Khliehriat community health centre", district police chief M K Dkhar said.

"There are possibilities of more deaths and the district police and fire service personnel are on the job to rescue the trapped persons in the bus", he said.

The depth of the gorge is over 80 feet.