Bus falls into ravine in Kashmir, 28 die, 33 hurt
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-02-06 22:02

JAMMU, India - An overcrowded bus skidded off a mountain road and crashed into a ravine in Kashmir on Sunday, killing at least 28 passengers and injuring 33, police said.

"The bus was very crowded and the road was slippery due to rain. It rolled nearly 150 feet (46 metres) down into the gorge," a police official told Reuters in Jammu, the winter capital of the revolt-racked Himalayan region.

Officials said a number of the injured were in serious condition.

Police said the bus was on its way from Udhampur town, 65 km east of Jammu, to a remote village when it left the road while trying to negotiate a bend.

"Local people are helping in extricating bodies from the mangled wreckage of the bus," the police officer said, adding that rain was hampering rescue operations.

Police said they had called in a crane to lift the wreckage of the bus.

In December, 24 people were killed when a bus plunged into a river while negotiating a curve in Uttaranchal, underscoring the lack of safety on Indian roads, especially in mountainous areas.

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