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India bus plunges from bridge killing 32

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India bus plunges from bridge killing 32

Image copyright AFP

A bus with 50 people on board has plunged from a bridge in northern India, killing at least 32, police say.

The vehicle – reports say driven by a 16-year-old – lost control and broke through a railing before falling 30 metres (100 ft) into the Banas river.

It was carrying passengers in Rajasthan to the Ramdevji Hindu temple in Sawai Madhopur district, local media report.

Most of the bodies have been retrieved and the injured taken to local hospitals.

Police, cited by the Hindustan Times, said the driver was among those who died, describing him as an untrained minor.

Most of the victims, women and children among them, drowned, the authorities say.

Image copyright AFP

Rescue services used steel-cutters to extract those trapped inside the vehicle, which lay almost entirely submerged under the concrete bridge. The bus was later dragged onto the river bank.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed anguish at the accident and said his thoughts were with the families of those who died.

Can India really halve its road deaths?

Road accidents are frequent in India, with one taking place every four minutes.

Badly maintained vehicles, poor driving, and the state of the roads are blamed for most incidents.


Source – bbc.com

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