At least 31 dead after bus plunges into a river in northeastern India

At least 31 dead after bus plunges into a river in northeastern India

2011-06-01 03:00:08 GMT+7 (ICT)

DISPUR, INDIA (BNO NEWS) -- At least 31 people on Tuesday died after a bus carrying a wedding party plunged into a river in India's northeastern Assam State, New Delhi television (NDTV) reported.

The tragic accident took place during the early hours of Tuesday in Hajo, Kamrup district. The bus travelling from Guwahati to Dihu plunged into a river after falling from a wooden bridge.

At least 31 passengers were killed including the groom, his parents and other relatives. The bus was carrying around 40 people and eight of them were rescued and taken to a nearby hospital.

Local residents began rescue efforts as National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams arrived until 6:00 a.m. local time claiming that they did not have night vision equipment for initiating operations without sunlight.

Preliminary reports indicate that the wooden bridge gave in as the bus was crossing it. The vehicle has been taken out of the gorge and rescuers are looking for missing passengers.

Also on Tuesday, a second accident occurred in Assam's Golaghat district. Five people were charred to death after an oil tanker crashed into a buss in Bokakhat near Kaziranga National Park. Twenty people were injured and some of then sustained severe burns.

India is often the scene of deadly road accidents, many of which are attributed to reckless driving, aging vehicle and overloading. In new figures released last year, India overtook China to top the world in road fatalities.

According to India's National Crime Records Bureau, there were 126,896 deaths in 2009. This amount represented a 7.3 percent increase in comparison with 2008. Road accidents caused 37.9 percent of the country's deaths due to un-natural causes.

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