44 children die in India bus crash

Bamroli: A bus veered off a bridge and plunged into a canal in the western state of Gujarat Wednesday, killing at least 44 schoolchildren and three adults, police said.

Their bodies have been recovered, but some children were still missing, said R.K. Patel, a senior police officer in Gujarat state. Four children were rescued.

The accident occurred in Vadodara, about 90 km southwest of Ahmedabad, Gujarat's main city.

The state-owned public bus was carrying more than 60 children and some passengers from three villages in the region, officials added.

They said the driver lost control after one of the tyres burst and ploughed through a concrete railing on the bridge, plunging the bus into the canal.

"I was sitting in the last seat and suddenly I felt the bus going down," said Sunil Thakore, 13, one of the few children who managed to swim to safety.

Screaming

"I could see everything floating outside, and tried to call but there was no one around," added Thakore, still shaking with fear. "I tried to pull my friend along, but it was impossible for me to swim with him."

The driver of the bus, an assistant and a woman were among the dead, police said. The children were studying at two separate schools and had taken the bus ride to reach their schools in time for their exams, police officers said.

Angry villagers said many children could have been saved if rescue operations started in time.

"For two hours I could see bodies floating in the canal, but nobody came to help us and all we could do was cry and scream for help," said Rambhai Thakore, a villager from Bamroli, which lost 15 girls in the accident.

Television pictures showed grieving parents trying to identify their children from among rows of bodies laid out by the canal.

"My daughter was going for her last examination today," Bhikiben, one of the bereaved mothers, said.

"She was very happy that her holidays were to begin, but now everything has ended for her," she said as authorities prepared to take her daughter's body to a local hospital. Rescuers used boats and officials said divers were looking for more bodies in the canal.