At least 36 dead after overcrowded and dilapidated bus slides into deep gorge in northern India

LUCKNOW, India (AP) — A poorly maintained and overcrowded bus veered off the road and plunged into a deep gorge in northern India on Monday, killing at least 36 people and injuring several others, officials said.

The accident took place in Almora district in the mountainous state of Uttarakhand. The bus was carrying about 60 people, and more than 20 were injured, said Deepak Rawat, a senior state government official.

Authorities previously said they believed there were 42 passengers, which was the number of people the bus could carry.

Teams of rescue and emergency workers were deployed to the scene and officials feared the death toll could rise further, especially as seven passengers were in critical condition in hospital.

Television footage showed parts of the bus mutilated and destroyed as it lay overturned on a rocky slope close to a stream. Rescue workers were seen pulling out passengers and carrying bodies on stretchers.

The state’s Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami earlier said rescue teams were working to quickly evacuate the injured passengers to nearby hospitals and authorities have been ordered to airlift the seriously injured.

The state government has opened an inquiry into the accident, said Vineet Pal, another official in the state. He added that preliminary information suggested the dilapidated bus skidded before tumbling into a 60-meter deep gorge.

A number of passengers managed to escape or were thrown by the impact, and subsequently alerted authorities to the accident. Two transport officials have been suspended for approving a bus that was in poor condition, Pal said.

India has one of the highest road fatality rates in the world, with hundreds of thousands of people killed and injured every year. Most accidents are attributed to reckless driving, poorly maintained roads and outdated vehicles.

In July, at least 18 people were killed in the state of Uttar Pradesh when a double-decker passenger bus collided with a milk truck. In May, a bus carrying Hindu pilgrims skidded into a deep gorge on a mountainous highway in Indian-controlled Kashmir, killing at least 21 people.