SHIMLA, India | At least 30 people, including 27 children, were killed on Monday when their bus crashed into a deep ravine in the foothills of the Himalayas in northeastern India’s Himachal Pradesh, police said.
“The bus has swung into a deep gorge of 60 meters, resulting in the death of 27 schoolchildren, two teachers and the driver,” the local police told AFP, which will “investigate the causes of the accident.” “.
The bus that took students back to this mountainous region toppled into the ravine near Nurpur, about 325 kilometers from the state capital, Shimla.
Most of the children on the bus, who belonged to a school, were between 10 and 12 years old. Twelve of them were hospitalized urgently, most of them in critical condition, said police officer Santosh Patial.
Images of the accident show the yellow bus crushed on the ground and children injured or bleeding carried on stretchers or in the arms of passersby, who gathered in numbers at the scene of the accident.
The state government of Himachal Pradesh has decided to grant 500,000 rupees ($ 7,700) in compensation to each victim’s family.
“My prayers and my solidarity are with those who lost their loved ones in this accident,” tweeted Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
India’s roads are among the most dangerous in the world, with more than 150,000 killed each year due to their poor condition, imprudent driving and poor vehicle maintenance.
The accident of a truck carrying wedding guests killed 30 people, mostly women and children, last month in Gujarat, western India.
Nine children were killed when a vehicle hit them in front of their school in February.
And 32 people were killed in late December in Rajasthan when their bus dropped from a bridge in a river.
