36 people die and 6 are injured after overcrowded bus accidents in India

Thirty-six people were killed and six people were injured in a bus accident in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand in Almora district on Monday, November 4, according to the Associated press, CNN And CBS News.

The bus, which was built to carry 42 passengers but had about 60 people on board, left Garhwal in the Himalayas for the town of Ramnagar – about 200 kilometers south of Garhwal.

During the journey, the bus lost control, veered off a hilly road and fell into a river about 200 feet below the road, state official Deepak Rawat told the AP. Almora district officials reported to the scene and attempted to rescue passengers from the overturned bus.

Several passengers were thrown from the vehicle or escaped. Those who survived subsequently alerted authorities about the accident.

According to CBS News, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said emergency services were “working quickly to evacuate the injured and take them to the nearest health center for treatment. Instructions have also been issued to airlift the seriously injured passengers if necessary transport.”

Dhami confirmed that an investigation into the accident will be launched.

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State official Vineet Pal said preliminary information showed that the bus was inadequately maintained and skidded before falling into the ravine. Pal also said two transportation officials were suspended for allowing the poorly conditioned bus to travel, the AP reported.

Dhami said the state government will compensate grieving families with 400,000 Indian rupees ($4,750) and the injured will receive 100,000 rupees ($1,190). Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also offered additional compensation, stating that the families of the dead will also receive 200,000 rupees ($2,378) and injured persons will receive 50,000 rupees ($594), according to CBS News.

Modi also extended his condolences “to those who lost their loved ones in the unfortunate road accident.”

India sees hundreds of thousands of traffic fatalities every year, some of which are among the highest in the world, the AP said.

More recently, in July, 18 people died when a double-decker passenger bus collided with a milk truck in the state of Uttar Pradesh, the AP reported. Two months earlier, 21 people died after a bus lost control and drove into a deep ravine on a mountain road in Indian-controlled Kashmir.