Scores die in India bus crash

NEW DELHI 1 Jun (ANA) - More than 40 people have died when a bus fell into a gorge in a mountainous region of northern India.

The incident on Sunday occurred in Nanidhanda area of Pauri Garhwal district in the state Uttarakhand.

"The bus lost control and swerved off the road, into a deep valley. It broke into two pieces on impact and it is now in a small river at the bottom of the valley," disaster management official Deepesh Chandra Kala told AFP news agency.

"As per official records, 45 people are dead, while many are injured," Surendra Agrawal, official at the Chief Minister's Office in Uttarakhand told Al Jazeera.

"Over 50 people were travelling in the bus," he added. "A probe will determine the reason of the accident, it could be human error or a technical snag."

India's National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF) was called to the crash site and is continuing its efforts to reach any passengers trapped in the wreckage.

The injured have been rushed to hospital.

The chief minister of the state of Uttarakhand said a "magisterial inquiry has been ordered".(ANA)
FA/ANA/1 June 2018-------