At least 28 drown when bus plunges into southern India lake

At least 28 drown when bus plunges into southern India lake

2010-12-15 10:57:21 GMT+7 (ICT)

MYSORE, INDIA (BNO NEWS) -- At least 28 people were killed on late Tuesday evening when the bus they were in skidded off the road and plunged into a lake in southern India, local media reported on Wednesday.

The Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency said 34 people were in the bus as it was returning home after attending a wedding in Nanjangud, a town in the Mysore district of India's Karnataka state. The accident happened near Mandakalli airport.

PTI cited police as saying that the driver lost control of the bus while trying to avoid a pothole, causing it to leave the road and roll into a lake. A total of 28 bodies - 24 women and four children - were recovered by rescue workers, while one person remains missing and is believed to have drowned.

The five survivors were transported to an area hospital where they remain in an unknown condition.

Exactly a week earlier, on December 7, twelve people were killed when the vehicle they were traveling in was washed away by a stream in southern India.

The accident happened late in the evening in the Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh state when the vehicle was caught in the swirling waters of a stream and overturned. A total of 16 people were in the Tata Sumo multi-utility vehicle.

Eyewitnesses told authorities that the driver of the vehicle had been warned against crossing the stream, which had swollen as a result of heavy rains. The driver ignored the warnings.

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