World | India
Scores dead in deadly road accidents in India
A series of deadly accidents in India claimed nearly 50 lives on Tuesday, officials said.
- AP
- Published: 13:17 October 14, 2008
Guwahati: A series of deadly accidents in India claimed nearly 50 lives on Tuesday, officials said.
In the first incident, at least 20 people were killed in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand when the bus they were travelling in fell into a 152-meter-deep gorge, a government official said.
The bus was carrying about 40 passengers and plunged as the driver tried to negotiate a turn on the curving mountain road, he said, adding that 20 people have been rescued so far.
Of those rescued, 15 people were injured, at least six of them seriously, he said, adding that the number of casualties may increase.
In a separate accident in Uttarakhand, five people were killed when the jeep they were travelling in rolled down a hill, officials said.
Five other passengers were injured, three of them seriously, he said.
In the northeastern state of Assam, an overcrowded, speeding bus crashed into a stationary truck, killing 23 people and injuring 44 others, police said.
The bus was carrying labourers to work before dawn in the state's Dhubri district some 300 kilometres west of the state capital, Guwahati.
"The bus carrying 67 passengers hit a stationary potato-laden truck with great speed, leading to the fatalities," the Dhubri police chief said.
Mahanta said the driver of the bus, which had a capacity of just 35, lost control and collided with the parked truck, reducing both vehicles to "a mass of mangled steel."
The injured have been taken to hospitals in the area, he said.
Deadly road accidents are common in India, often caused by aging vehicles, overloading and reckless driving.
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