At least 32 dead as bus plunges off bridge in India
Updated | By AFP
At least 32 people were killed when their bus swerved off a bridge and plunged 30 metres onto a riverbed in the western Indian state of Rajasthan.
Local television footage showed rescue workers in waist deep water pulling bodies from the bus, which was half submerged in the river Banas some 160 kilometres from the state capital Jaipur.
"We have retrieved 32 bodies from the bus and shifted the injured to the hospital," said district magistrate Kailash Chand Verma.
He said emergency workers equipped with steel cutters rushed to the scene of the accident to rescue those trapped inside the bus.
Authorities had yet to confirm the cause of the crash, but survivors said the driver lost control while trying to overtake another vehicle.
India has some of the world's deadliest roads. More than 150,000 people are killed each year with most accidents blamed on poor roads, badly maintained vehicles and reckless driving.
Rajasthan, known as the desert state, is popular with both international and domestic tourists drawn to its palaces and desert forts.
Show's Stories
-
Would Geordin Hill-Lewis want to stay on as Cape Town mayor if elected DA leader?
In a recent conversation on Breakfast with Martin Bester, Geordin Hill-L...
Breakfast with Martin Bester 19 hours ago -
"Producers are scared to talk and scared to speak out," says South African journalist
TV and film journalist Thinus Ferreira spoke to The Drive with Rob and R...
The Drive with Rob & Roz 2 days, 10 hours ago