At least twenty three children and four adults were killed after a bus carrying school students fell into a gorge near Nurpur in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh on Monday evening.
“Twenty seven people, including 23 children, were killed as school bus fell into gorge in Kangra district,” said deputy commissioner Kangra Sandeep Kumar . The bus was carrying 40-45 people.
Police said that all the dead students, 13 boys and 10 girls, were below the age of 10. The bus driver and two teachers were among the dead and the fourth adult killed was a woman who had taken a lift in the bus, Kumar said.
The death toll could rise as many students were still trapped in the mangled bus, Patial said. The bus belonged to Ram Singh Memorial Public School. At least 13 seriously injured persons were rushed to a hospital in Pathankot where one of them succumbed to injuries, news agency PTI quoted an official as saying.
Eyewitnesses said the driver, who was among the dead, lost control on a sharp curve and the vehicle fell into the 200-feet deep gorge at Cheli village, some 300 km from the state capital Shimla.
A National Disaster Relief Force team has been rushed to the site of the accident.
Chief minister Jai Ram Thakur said that the food and civil supplies minister had been sent to the spot. Thakur has ordered a magisterial inquiry to ascertain the cause of the accident. He said the state government would provide all possible assistance to the family members of deceased.