At least 36 people have been killed and several injured after an overloaded and dilapidated bus plunged into a deep gorge in northern India. Officials said that the accident took place in Almora district of Uttarakhand on Monday (November 4). The US news agency AP reported the news.
Officials from the accident site said the bus, carrying about 60 passengers, lost control and plunged into a 60-meter (200-foot) deep ravine. Deepak Rawat, a senior official of the local administration, said that although the bus was allowed to carry 42 passengers, it had extra passengers. At least 20 people were injured, some of them critically.
Local administration and rescue workers quickly reached the spot and started rescue operations. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said that the injured have been taken to the nearest hospital and preparations are underway for an airlift for better treatment of some in critical condition.
Preliminary investigation revealed that the bus was in a bad condition and lost control and fell into a deep gorge. Some passengers somehow got out of the spot and informed the police. Meanwhile, another official of the state, Vineet Pal, said that the two transport officials involved in the approval of the bus have been dismissed.
Television footage showed the stricken bus tumbling down the rocky slopes of the ravine and turning into a wreck. Rescue workers are taking out the injured and taking them to the hospital on stretchers.
Thousands of people die in road accidents in India every year. These accidents are caused by over speeding, poor condition of roads and old vehicles. Earlier in July, 18 people were killed in a collision between a double-decker bus and a milk truck in Uttar Pradesh. Also, in May, 21 people were killed when a bus carrying Hindu pilgrims plunged off a mountain road into a ditch in Indian-administered Kashmir.
According to official data, road accidents in India account for a large number of deaths every year and the number is constantly increasing.
