At least 18 people died yesterday when their bus plunged down a gorge into a river in the northern hill state of Himachal Pradesh.
The driver of the bus appeared to have lost control while negotiating a bend on the hill road to the town of Kullu along the Beas river, an official at the Mandi police control room said.
Twenty-nine people were injured and some were in critical condition, police said.
Speeding was the cause of the accident, the police said.
The bus with over 45 passengers was en route to Kullu town from Mandi when it fell into the river near Bindravani, some 175km from the state capital Shimla.
The toll could increase as most of the injured were in a critical condition, a police official said.
In a separate incident on Friday night in Gujarat 14 people died and three were injured after the van in which they were travelling collided with a truck.
The accident took place on a highway near the village of Valthera, local police official Smitesh Solanki said.
The victims were on their way home after visiting a temple in the area when their vehicle collided with the truck, which was loaded with ceramic tiles, Solanki said.
They all belonged to five families from the same village. The dead included at least five women and two teenaged boys.
“The driver of the truck ran away. The survivors are in critical condition and it is not yet clear what caused the accident,” Solanki said.
In yet another accident, six members of a family were killed and three others injured when a taxi they were travelling in turned turtle on the Eastern Freeway in Mumbai yesterday morning, officials said.
The accident occurred around 9am and severely hit the morning peak hour traffic.
According to the police, the victims, included four women and a boy who had come from Surat for a pilgrimage to Mumbai.
Rescue operation underway after bus fell into a river near Mandi in Himachal Pradesh yesterday.
