20 killed, 40 injured after bus plunges into gorge in Indian-controlled Kashmir

At least 20 people were killed and 40 others injured Thursday, after a bus they were travelling in skidded off the road and fell into a deep gorge in Indian-controlled Kashmir, officials said.

The accident took place in the morning in mountainous Bidda area of Reasi district, 297 km south of Srinagar city, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir.

"In a tragic road accident today morning 20 people were killed and 40 others injured, some of them critically when a bus carrying them rolled down into a 300 feet gorge," a senior police official told Xinhua via telephone.

"The injured passengers were immediately rushed to different hospitals."

Soon after the accident, police officials and locals rushed to the spot to rescue injured and retrieve bodies from the mangled vehicle.

Officials said 15 passengers were killed on spot while five others succumbed to injuries at the district hospital.

Locals said the ill-fated bus carrying locals was on way from Reasi town to Bakal village.

According to officials, two helicopters were pressed into service to ferry the seriously injured to government medical college hospital in Jammu city.

The cause of accident was being ascertained, police officials said. However, preliminary investigations carried out by police suggest the bus was overcrowded.

Deadly road accidents are common in India often caused due to overloading, bad condition of roads and reckless driving.

Last year, 146,133 people were killed and 500,279 others injured in 501,423 road accidents across India, a latest report released by India's ministry of road transport said. Enditem