The driver lost control of the vehicle, which was carrying passengers on its roof, at a sharp bend on a mountain road in the state of Himachal Pradesh, 385 miles north of New Delhi, said police officer Raj Kumar. The bus then fell into a gorge.
The driver lost control when a tyre burst at a sharp bend on a mountain road in the state of Himachal Pradesh, 335 miles north of New Delhi.
Many passengers riding on the roof of the 42-seat bus were killed in the carnage. Among the victims were 18 women.
Forty-six other people injured in the accident were taken to hospital, three of whom were in a critical condition.
The bus had seats for 60 people and was so overcrowded that some people were riding on its roof. Kumar said the rescue operation was continuing and that the death toll of 52 could rise.
Tragedy struck at 9am local time as the privately-owned bus travelled from Chamba - a remote mountainous district where there are many road accidents - to Dulera.
Sunil Chaudhury, administrator of Himachal Pradesh’s Chamba district, said all victims’ bodies had been recovered but the relief and rescue operation was going on.
Four teams of doctors were working at the crash site and postmortems were being conducted at the scene.
Police figures show India has the world's highest road-death toll, with more than 110,000 people dying each year in accidents commonly caused by overcrowding, speeding and poor vehicle and road maintenance.
Monday 13 august 2012
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/aug/11/india-bus-crash?newsfeed=true
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