At least ten dead as packed bus plunges off motorway bridge into Himalayan gorge while taking pilgrims to Hindu shrine | The Sun
AT LEAST ten people have been killed after a packed bus skidded off a motorway bridge into a gorge.
Cops say 55 passengers were also injured in the crash in Kashmir, India, as the vehicle headed to a Hindu shrine.
The bus – packed with pilgrims – was making its way to Katra town when it toppled into a Himalayan gorge near Jammu city on Tuesday.
Local police officer Chandan Kohli said the bus was overloaded.
Emergency service rushed to the scene and launched a rescue operation.
Ten people from India's eastern Bihar state died, while 55 passengers were taken to hospital.
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The shrine of Vaishno Devi in Katra is highly revered by Hindus and hundreds of thousands visit it every year.
India has some of the highest road death rates in the world, with hundreds of thousands of people killed and injured annually.
Most crashes are blamed on reckless driving, poorly maintained roads and aging vehicles.
It comes just months after at least 25 people were killed after a bus carrying wedding guests plummeted 1,600ft into a mountain gorge in Pauri Garhwal.
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The large group were travelling back from Laldhang in the Haridwar district before the coach hurtled off the road.
According to officials, at least 45 people were on board when the bus terrifyingly veered off the mountain road and fell into the ravine.
More than half of the wedding party are believed to have passed away in the horror crash.
Meanwhile, at least 11 people were killed after an overloaded minibus packed with schoolkids plunged into a gorge in northern India.
The minibus was reportedly crammed far beyond capacity when it veered off the road and hurtled down into a deep ravine.
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