33 killed as bus flies off India bridge

AT LEAST 33 people were killed on Saturday after a passenger bus veered off a bridge and plunged into a river in the western Indian state of Rajasthan, police said.

Seven injured passengers were hospitalized in Sawai Madhopur district of Rajasthan state, 230 miles south of New Delhi, said police officer Narain Singh.

The speeding bus was trying to overtake another vehicle when it rammed through the bridge railing about 7 a.m., said B.L. Soni, another police officer. It fell 65 feet down into the Banas river.

The driver was among the dead, the Press Trust of India news agency said.

Rescuers have recovered 33 bodies from the river and all on board the bus have been accounted for, Singh said. The victims, who were from various Indian states, were on their way to a nearby Hindu temple in Lalsot, a town in Rajasthan state, for pilgrimage.

Police figures show India has the world’s highest road accident death toll, with more than 110,000 people dying each year in crashes.