Bus accident kills at least 30, injures dozens in Indian-controlled Kashmir
SRINAGAR, India — At least 30 people were killed and nearly two dozen injured when a passenger bus slid off a Himalayan highway and rolled down a steep slope onto another road in Indian-controlled Kashmir on Wednesday, officials said.
The 42-seat bus was on the way to the southern city of Jammu from the town of Kishtwar when it veered off the highway and tumbled about 660 feet onto an older road in the mountainous region, said Harvinder Singh, a civil administrator.
Residents and authorities rushed to the scene, and a rescue operation was launched.
Singh said the injured were taken to nearby health facilities. At least 10 in critical condition were taken to a hospital in Jammu.
At least 10 people died and 55 were injured when a bus full of Hindu pilgrims skidded off a bridge and fell into a gorge in Indian-controlled Kashmir.
The exact cause of the crash was not immediately known.
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.
Last year, a century-old cable suspension bridge collapsed into a river in the western Indian state of Gujarat, sending hundreds plunging into the water and killing at least 132 in one of the worst accidents in the country in the last decade.
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