Uttarakhand crash: At least 24 dead after bus plunges into gorge in northern India

A bus has veered off the road and plunged into a deep gorge in northern India, killing at least 24 people and injuring several others, officials say.

Monday’s accident occurred in Almora district in the mountainous state of Uttarakhand.

The bus was carrying 42 people and 24 bodies have been recovered, said Vineet Pal, a state government official.

Teams of rescue and relief workers were deployed to the site and authorities said the death toll may rise as they work to rescue passengers who may still be trapped inside.

The state’s chief minister, Pushkar Singh Dhami, said teams were working to evacuate the injured passengers to the nearest health centre for treatment and that authorities have been instructed to airlift those seriously hurt.

A preliminary investigation suggested the bus, which was reportedly in a dilapidated condition, skidded before tumbling down a 60m-deep gorge, Pal said.

A number of passengers managed to escape or were thrown out by the impact, and then alerted authorities about the accident.

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.

In July, at least 18 people died after a double-decker passenger bus collided with a milk truck in Uttar Pradesh state. In May, a bus carrying Hindu pilgrims skidded and rolled into a deep gorge on a mountainous highway in Indian-controlled Kashmir, killing at least 21 people.