42 die as bus crashes into canal
2008-04-16 11:04
New Delhi - At least 42 people were killed after a bus from a state-run school fell into the Narmada canal in Vadodara district in the western Indian state Gujarat on Wednesday, reported local police and state
officials.
"Forty-two bodies, most of them of children, have so far been fished out from the canal," said Amit Vishwkarama, deputy superintendent of police of rural Vadodara.
Four children were rescued from the 60-feet-deep canal, said Vijay Nehra, Vadaodara's district collector, reported news agency PTI.
Rescue operations are underway, said officials.
The accident took place early in the morning in Vadodara district, about 280km south-east of state capital Gandhinagar, after the driver of the bus lost control, said police.
Six children were killed in 2006 when a school bus fell into a canal in neighbouring state Harayana.
Last December at least 19 people died in the northern state of Punjab when a school bus collided with a train.
Sapa-dpa
- SAPA