Key Points
A poorly maintained and overcrowded bus veered off the road and plunged into a deep gorge in northern India on Monday, killing at least 36 people and injuring several others, officials said.. ..
The bus was carrying around 60 people, and more than 20 have been injured, said Deepak Rawat, a senior state government official.. ..
Authorities said earlier they believed there were 42 passengers, which was how many people the bus could accommodate.. . Teams of rescue and relief workers were deployed to the site and officials feared the death toll may rise further, especially as seven passengers in hospital were in critical condition.. . . Television footage showed parts of the bus mangled and destroyed as it lay overturned on a rocky slope, close to a stream..
Two transport officials have been suspended for approving a bus that was in poor condition, Pal said.. . India has some of the highest road death rates in the world, with hundreds of thousands of people killed and injured annually..
In May, a bus carrying Hindu pilgrims skidded and rolled into a deep gorge on a mountainous highway in Indian-controlled Kashmir, killing at least 21 people..
