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 around 60 people and more than 20 have been injured, said Vineet Pal, a state government official.
Authorities said earlier they believed there were 42 passengers, which is the number of people the bus could accommodate.
Teams of rescue and relief workers were deployed to the site and officials feared the death toll may rise further, especially as seven passengers in hospital were in critical condition.
Television footage showed parts of the bus mangled and destroyed as it lay overturned on a rocky slope, close to a stream. Rescuers were seen working to pull out passengers and carrying bodies on stretchers.
The state’s chief minister, Pushkar Singh Dhami, earlier said the teams were working to quickly evacuate the injured passengers to nearby hospitals and that authorities have been instructed to airlift those seriously hurt.
The state government has opened an investigation into the accident, said Vineet Pal, another official in the state. He added that a preliminary investigation suggested that the bus, which was reportedly in a dilapidated condition, skidded before tumbling down a gorge 60 metres (200ft) deep, Pal said.
