Bus crashes into deep ravine in northern India, killing 16 people

NEW DELHI – A passenger bus skidded off a mountain road on Monday and plunged into a deep gorge in northern India, killing 16 people, including schoolchildren, a government official said.

Rescue workers pulled the seriously injured from the wreckage of the vehicle and took them to a hospital, Ashutosh Garg, a senior administrator of Kullu district in Himachal Pradesh state, told the Press Trust of India news agency.

Another official, Prashant Sirkek Singh, said about 20 passengers were traveling on the bus.

Photos shared on social media showed responders trying to rescue survivors from the mangled body of the yellow bus. The exact cause of the crash was not initially known.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his sadness at the accident.

Fatal road accidents are commonplace in India due to reckless driving, poorly maintained roads and aging vehicles. More than 110,000 people are killed in traffic accidents across India every year, according to police.